Kostas Tsimikas

(Liverpool)

He’s completed the hard yards, refining and honing his craft at mother club Olympiakos, and spending time on loan at Esbjerg in Denmark and Dutch side Willem II. Now for his well-deserved entrance onto the main stage on Merseyside, a chance for the impressive young Greek left-back to really make a name for himself, and gain global exposure and recognition.

The Thessaloniki-born international, an £11.7 million purchase from Olympiakos, ostensibly will be the understudy to the inimitable Andy Robertson. But that does not mean that the Anfield new boy will be twiddling his thumbs most matchdays. Even a player of Robertson’s rare stamina has to have a breather every so often, and the 24-year-old will be on hand to take the baton. Tsimikas has the physical capacity to bomb forward all day, the mentality and skills of a winger, plus the ability to whip in a great cross. Irreverent, adventurous as well as defensively resilient.

The move to Liverpool is not Tsimikas’ first spell away from Greece. In 2016-17 he joined Danish side Esbjerg on loan, then spent a season in the Netherlands with Willem II, where he showed off his attacking credentials in the Eredivisie by scoring six goals.

In his native land, he is often compared to the former Olympiakos, Internazionale and Greece left-back Grigoris Georgatos, who a couple of decades ago was one of the most accomplished attacking full-backs in Europe. It’s no coincidence that Georgatos used to be Tsimikas’ coach for the Olympiakos youth team.

Tsimikas has the physical capacity to bomb forward all day...plus the ability to whip in a great cross