Vasilis Torosidis

Vasilis Torosidis (Greek: Βασίλης Τοροσίδης, born 10 June 1985) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a right-back.

Torosidis made his senior debut for Skoda Xanthi on 19 April 2003 at the age of 17 and scored his first goal in the Super League against Iraklis on 17 October 2005.

Having made 76 impressive appearances for the club during a five-year stint, Torosidis drew the attention of the top Greek clubs AEK Athens, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos.

He eventually joined Olympiacos on a five-year deal on 1 January 2007.

Torosidis moved to Olympiacos in January 2007 and scored his first goal with the team against PAOK on 21 January 2007.

He scored his first European goal for Olympiacos in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup 1st round 5–0 home leg win against FC Nordsjælland and scored another one in the competition's Group Stage 4–0 home win against Hertha BSC.

On 24 February 2011, Olympiacos was forced to play one game behind closed doors after supporters invaded the pitch and attacked some of the Panathinaikos players at the end of their controversial home win in the Athens derby took place on 19 February.

Torosidis was also given a five-game ban by the Super League Greece following his sending off for headbutting midfielder Sebastian Leto in the closing stages of the match.

The punishments were handed down on Thursday after hundreds of fans invaded the pitch following the league leaders' tempestuous 2–1 win that took them ten points clear of their local rivals with just seven matches to play.

Some Olympiakos supporters threw punches and kicks at the visiting players and battled with police.

Torosidis signed a renewal with Olympiacos in the summer of 2009 that will expire on 31 June 2013, which included a buy-out fee of €7 million.

He was monitored by such clubs as Newcastle United, Roma, Juventus, Atlético Madrid, and Bayern Munich.

In January 2013, Torosidis refused to sign a new deal with the Greek champions after moving to the Athens outfit in 2007.

Martin Jol, manager of Fulham F.C. was linked with a move for the Torosidis, who was believed to be available for around £500,000.

The Fulham boss snapped up Giorgos Karagounis on a free transfer in the summer – and Torosidis is desperate for a fresh challenge in a different European league.

"I’m not going to sign a new deal," Torosidis told the Sun newspaper.

"I want to move abroad." On 22 January 2013, he moved from Olympiacos to Roma, signing a contract with the Roman club expiring on 31 June 2015.

On 23 January 2013, Torosidis moved to Italian Serie A side Roma for only €400,000 and signed a contract valid until 30 June 2015, with the option to stay for the 2015–16 season.

The Italian club had beaten Fulham to the Greece international's signature, who had previously revealed he would not be renewing his contract with the Athens outfit.

Olympiakos had been keen to sell the versatile defender this month in order to risk losing him for nothing at the end of the season.

Roma's sporting director Sabatini in his introduction speech said: ''"He is an experienced player and has spent a long time playing for the best team in Greece, Olympiakos. He played over three hundred league matches for them as well as quite a few appearances in European competition and for Greece. I'm grateful to him for choosing Roma over the other offers he received. "What memories do I have of him?

One above all else.

When he made a major contribution to beating Lazio and eliminating them from the Champions League here in the Stadio Olimpico a few years back."''

He made his debut against Bologna in a 3–3 draw.

He scored his first goal for Roma in a 2–3 away win over Atalanta.

He also scored in the Coppa Italia semi-final match against Internazionale with a great strike right in Inter goalkeeper Handanovič's top corner.

The match ended 2–3, with Roma securing a position in the 2013 Coppa Italia Final against Lazio, where they subsequently lost.

On 9 January 2014, with a very early Vasilis Torosidis goal, Roma labored to a 1–0 victory over Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia to help shake off the 3–0 league loss against Juventus last weekend.

It was indubitably important for Roma to get over their first defeat of the season as quickly as possible, and to that end, Rudi Garcia sent out a side that was a mixture of first team players, fringe players, and youngsters.

On 17 March 2014, Torosidis scored as Roma beat Udinese Calcio to maintain their grip on second place from Juventus in Serie A and restored the two-goal margin before Dusan Basta of Udinese ensured a nervous final 10 minutes for Roma.

On 2 August 2014, Roma announced that Torosidis had signed a new contract with the Giallorossi, keeping him at the club until 2017.

The 29-year-old, who represented his country at this summer's World Cup in Brazil, explained his reasons for staying at Stadio Olimpico at a Press conference.

"My future is at Roma, I signed for three years. I’m staying at Roma because they’re a big club with big targets and I want to win something with this team. We are a strong team with players of a great level. We want to win the Scudetto but it is not easy. It will be a season with a lot of matches. We need to be humble and ready for the season. All the fans are expecting a strong team and that's what we are. We want to win the Scudetto. There will be a lot of difficult matches, there are teams like Juventus, Napoli and Fiorentina. We will see." Torosidis told reporters.

On 16 May 2015, in a game for Serie A against Udinese Calcio, the Giallorossi defeated the Zebrette 2–1, in which Torosidis got the winning goal to get the side three points, but the Greek international is not taking any credit for the win.

On 29 September 2015, he scored his first goal with his left-foot like a real poacher, for the 2015–16 season in a 3–2 away loss against FC BATE Borisov in the UEFA Champions League, when with 8 minutes left he netted the Italian side's second after converting from close range.

Torosidis suffered a lot of injuries during the season and he was forced to cut training after he has been diagnosed with a Grade I tear of the left calf muscle, eventually losing his place in the starting XI.

According to newspapers, La Liga side Málaga CF are interested in the Greek defender, who is not in the plans of Luciano Spalletti and consequently is in A.S. Roma summer transfer list.

Roma have been searching for an alternative at right-back as it appears the Greek's place in the Giallorossi side has not been confirmed.

On 31 August 2016, the last available day in the Italian summer transfer window, Torosidis moved to Bologna for €1 million and signed a contract valid until 30 June 2018, with the option to stay for the 2018–19 season, as two weeks earlier has turned down an offer by Torino.

On 11 September 2016, he made his first appearance with the club as a substitute in a 2–1 home win against Cagliari Calcio.