Lazaros Christodoulopoulos

Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Greek: Λάζαρος Χριστοδουλόπουλος, born 19 December 1986) is a Greek professional footballer who plays for Super League club Aris.

He plays as a winger, a second striker or an attacking midfielder.

Christodoulopoulos started his career when he was picked up by Omonoia Sindos (in Thessaloniki) at a young age, and then Neapoli.

His impressive performances caught the eye of a PAOK scout, and joined PAOK in the summer of 2004.

He has been a mainstay in the PAOK first team proving to be a vital team player.

In the summer of 2006 he was given a trial by English giants Liverpool but PAOK was reluctant to sell him at the time.

This started a dispute that prevented him from playing for more than half of the 2006–07 season.

He was nicknamed "The Builder" by the local media, because during his fall-out in relations with PAOK, he stated that he would be better off being a construction worker than playing for PAOK again.

As of 2008 many European clubs were interested in signing him.

He was contracted to PAOK until 2008 with minimum fee release clause of €6 million.

On 20 June 2008, Christodoulopoulos agreed to a deal in principle to join Panathinaikos for €3.8 million.

Christodoulopoulos signed a four-year contract with the club.

On 18 February 2010, Christodoulopoulos scored against Roma after coming on in the UEFA Europa League round of 32.

The 2011–12 season didn't start well for him, as he faced a serious knee injury during pre-season which led him to surgery.

The club doctors said that he would be expected to return after five months.

After months of therapy and special treatment, he joined the rest of the team at training in December.

On 29 December 2011, the club president announced that Christodoulopoulos had agreed to sign a new three-year contract until 2015 since his contract was going to expire during the end of the 2011–12 season.

In January 2012, it was reported that Liverpool were interested in signing Christodoulopoulos, the former trialist at the club, for £2,000,000 (€4,500,000).

Christodoulopoulos began 2012–13 by scoring in European and championship matches.

He was given the number "10".

He and Ibrahim Sissoko were the most important players for the season.

In December, in order for Panathinaikos' president, Giannis Alafouzos, to save money for the team, he released players with high-paying contacts; as a result Christodoulopoulos was released alongside Nikos Spyropoulos, Loukas Vyntra, Antonis Petropoulos and Sebastian Leto.

On 31 January 2013, Lazaros was transferred to Bologna on a free transfer.

On 26 February 2013, Lazaros made his debut against Fiorentina coming on as a substitute and scoring a goal in a 2–1 win.

The departure of Alessandro Diamanti in January has opened its doors as a starter for Lazaros Christodoulopoulos.

The Greek attacking midfielder has proved ready and able to take advantage of the chances he had, becoming one of the linchpins of the team coached by Davide Ballardini.

In March 2014, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos netted a late consolation penalty in a 2–1 away loss against Livorno.

It was his first goal in the season.

A week later, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos gave Bologna's survival hopes a massive boost with a crucial 1–0 win over Cagliari at the Dal’Ara.

He was outstanding for the club and at the heart of the club's excellent attacking football so it was no surprise when he swept home the winner from the penalty spot.

Lazaros curled a free kick over the top for Bologna before being denied by another brilliant save with 15 minutes to go after again jinking past defenders and letting loose.

Two minutes afterwards, the man of the match involved in everything was at the centre of controversy when the referee adjudged Daniele Dessena to have pushed him to the ground inside the box.

The spot kick was awarded and Lazaros stepped up to provide the cool conversion and give his side a priceless win.

On 16 May 2014, there was tension in the training campus at Bologna, a few days after the last challenge at the Olimpico against Lazio ending a disappointing season that led to relegation to Serie B.

An entry of Cesare Natali's hard training on Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, sparked the reaction of the Greek midfielder.

Lazaros is afraid to get hurt and jeopardize his participation at the 2014 World Cup.

Bologna, after relegation, will proceed with the disposal of its most popular players.

As reported by TuttoSport, one of the starters will be the Greek midfielder Lazaros Christodoulopoulos.

The player has become the object of desire in Italy especially for Torino, Palermo and Fiorentina.

The key element in his game is that the Greek midfielder knows how to take responsibility when the team is in trouble.