Slavia presented a new ten. Norwegian talent Zafeiris: now or never in the Czech Republic
Red and white dress, number ten. Applause from the rarely filled stands and a few juggles and tricks in the middle of the newly laid turf. Slavia wanted to show off their latest acquisition in a big way.
Before the home league victory over Jablonec that was a surprise for all the supporters who had to arrive in freezing weather. And a reward in a way.
“You can get a player like him here at this age or never,” said coach Jindřich Trpišovský. “He had a great season in Norway, he wanted to take an intermediate step. I went to see him already in December, we watched him all autumn.”
“We believe that Christos will be a valid reinforcement for Slavia. He has very interesting skills for his age, I hope he will follow in the footsteps of Alexander Bah and Aiham Ousou,” said Slavist sports director Jiří Bílek.
And the only nineteen-year-old talent added: “I’m happy to be here. I want to show what’s in me.”
He arrived in Prague from Haugesund, which, according to iDNES.cz, was supposed to collect approximately 40 million crowns from Slavia plus additional units of millions in bonuses. According to reports from Norway, the club also kept a percentage of any further offence.
After all, Zafeiris is one of the most popular youngsters in the current Norwegian football scene, which is on the rise. In recent years, he has brought up superman Erling Haaland and creative Martin Ödegaard, who are now competing for the English throne from a distance in the jerseys of Manchester City and Arsenal.
Where to place Zafeiris? “I want to create the game, I like to assist and score goals,” he described himself as a pro Slavic website.
He has played over eighty games in adult football before he was twenty, Grorud was traded to Haugesund in the second division at the beginning of last year and scored four goals and added five assists in twenty-nine starts in the elite competition.
Fifth winter reinforcementNineteen-year-old Christos Zafeiris is Slavia’s fifth winter signing. David Pech from Boleslav, Petr Hronek from Bohemians, Igoh Ogbu from Lilleström and also striker Babacar Sy from Táborsk, who immediately went on loan to Teplice, came earlier. The Red and Whites also have Michal Tomić from Slovácko among the players they are scouting. |
“However, he came to us after training, so I will have to fight for my position,” pointed out the coach.
He was born in Athens, Greece, and moved to Norway with his parents when he was nine, while representing the Nordic country since he was sixteen. In Eden, he has now signed a contract until the summer of 2027, and one of his prospects will be to fill the gap left by Nicolae Stancio, or replace Ondřej Lingro, who is interested in clubs from abroad.
Pojí has excellent technique, a strong right leg and a smaller stature. “It’s a fact that we still don’t have a replacement for Nico,” Trpišovský admitted recently.
“He was exceptional in the way he had a huge impact on the performance of a lot of other players. It’s not just about goals, assists, but mainly the impact on the team’s overall performance. Right after Tomáš Souček, it was the most fundamental departure in the last five years.”
Zafeiris will surely get time to get closer to the former key player. “The potential lies dormant in him,” he suspects in Slavia.
“He has high self-confidence, he can play with great intensity. We expect that he will become one of the key players in a certain time horizon,” added Trpišovský.