International breaks are, for many supporters, one of the dullest periods in the football calendar, but the extended break certainly gave further evidence that Hull City’s immediate, and potentially, long-term future is in safe hands with Konstantinos Tzolakis.
One would naturally expect an array of big performances over time from a player who, even if it was for a matter of days, was the club’s record transfer in a deal worth over £20m.
And after the footballing world had already taken notice of the fact that the Tigers aren’t in the Premier League to purely make the numbers up, many more are realising that this particular deal could be one of the signings of the season right across Europe.
Winning a European trophy at the age of 21 is an impressive feat in its own right, but I don’t think many people saw such a high level of performances from the Greek coming so early on.
Hull City aren’t exactly used to having top-level international stars on their books, let’s face it, especially ones who put in two man-of-the-match performances against Germany in the space of a week – irrespective of their transition period under Jurgen Klopp.
It is, of course, early days, but it is remarkable that Tzolakis sits within the top bracket for metrics such as clean sheets, saves per 90, goals prevented and save percentage alongside goalkeepers who have won the Premier League or featured at international level many more times than his own 13 caps for Greece.
Even though his sale was extremely beneficial financially, as well as avoiding unhelpful sanctions, it always felt as though Sergej Jakirovic needed to source an upgrade on Ivor Pandur, as even though promotion was achieved, 65 goals conceded in 48 games in a lower division wouldn’t fill many with confidence when talking about Premier League survival prospects.
It feels a welcome change not to have such a feeling of angst whenever City’s backs are against the wall – the first seven minutes at Newcastle aside – due to the 6″4 figure’s composure for starters.
This, in particular, is backed up by the statistic that, for Olympiacos, Hull and Greece in the past 12 months, he has made an average of 2.05 saves per game and conceded just 0.82 goals per game in the meantime.
Annoyingly, it does already feel like we may have to enjoy Tzolakis why we can, as it has already been suggested that clubs of a greater stature have been alerted to his current trajectory and potential
Tottenham, in their current predicament with Antonin Kinsky between the sticks, makes links with easier to believe, whilst claims of interest from Liverpool and Real Madrid feel less substantiated,
One thing is certain though, and that is that, over time, goalkeepers haven’t tended to be sold for the greatest amount of sums.
Zion Suzuki, for example, impressed in Serie A with Parma for two years, but after gaining plenty of plaudits in the World Cup for Japan, only made the Italian side approximately £25m in profit with his move to Aston Villa, despite having three years left on his contract.
Tzolakis will be under contract for four more years by the time this season draws to a close, and given the fee City parted with, there is every chance you could see at a £40-£50m valuation at the bare minimum if the highlighted data, as well as his performance levels, keep moving upward, in my opinion.
