Greek centre-back Anestis Tricholidis is in the process of becoming a Norwegian citizen so that he can play with the Norwegian flag on his chest in the future. – The enormous interest from big clubs makes future national team play for the 16-year-olds unlikely. – Even on a national team packed with talent like the Norwegian.
Sandnes Ulf’s 16-year-old center back Anestis Tricholidis has already managed to become a trusted man in the OBOS league. As it looks now, he can “skip” the Eliteserien for his journey out into the big world.
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Transfermarkt has just started following Sandnes Ulf’s golden calf and they have started with a cautious valuation of 200,000 euros.
Now big clubs such as Inter Milan, Fiorentina and Nottingham Forest are circling around the talent.
Anestis Tricholidis has been a mainstay in the Sandnes Ulf defense this season – despite the fact that he was only 15 years old when the season started. The 190 centimeter tall center back has long been followed by much bigger clubs, but in May he chose to extend his contract with the OBOS league club.
However, this has not scared away the suitors.
TV 2 reports that the Italian big club Inter Milan is showing interest in the talent and has seen him play several times this season. Fiorentina and Como are also keeping a close eye on the 16-year-old’s performances.
The head coach of Sandnes Ulf, Arturo Cleveland, is not at all surprised by the interest.
“I see that as completely natural. He is so good already that he is probably with us on borrowed time. If the scouts do a good job, he won’t be with us for long,” says Cleveland.
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Compared to the big ones
Cleveland has big words for the youngster:
“He’s very mature for his age. Both his physique and his football head. He is perhaps the most exciting I have ever seen in that age group.
Sandnes Ulf is therefore prepared for a bid for the centre-back in the next few weeks.
The 16-year-old played 66 minutes on Sunday when Sandnes Ulf won away to Moss.
“He has played a number of games against good opposition. The fact that he does it away on the grass pitch in Moss – something we know foreign clubs attach great importance to – of course makes it even more relevant. It’s very natural for bigger clubs to look at players with such potential,” says Cleveland.
Greek citizenship arouses interest
Tricholidis was born in 2010 and is originally from Greece, but came to Norway in 2014 and has lived here ever since. He currently only has Greek citizenship, which has attracted interest from the Greek Football Federation. At the same time, he is in the process of becoming a Norwegian citizen.
It is precisely his Greek citizenship that has made him interesting for a Premier League club. TV 2 can learn that Nottingham Forest have shown concrete interest. The club is owned by the Greek shipping billionaire Evangelos Marinakis.
The rules in England and the Premier League do not allow the club to buy the 16-year-old now – but Marinakis also owns Olympiakos. There it is allowed to buy players under the age of 18 from abroad. Thus, a transfer via Greece could be a possible path into English football.
Hangeland has contacted us
Sandnesposten has previously reported that Brede Hangeland has met with the 16-year-old for talks about a potential national team future.
“It was a nice chat. He expressed that he wanted to meet me in person to get to know me a little better. I got the impression that I might be relevant for the World Cup qualifiers this autumn for the G17 national team of Norway, Tricholidis said to the local newspaper about the meeting with the former defender, who is now in charge of the Norwegian national team.
Sandnes Ulf’s coach understands very well that Hangeland has wanted to make sure that the defensive talent chooses Norway.
“The fact that he chooses to spend time on it testifies that there is something there. He would probably have been on the junior national team here already if he had had Norwegian citizenship, but they are well on their way to fixing all the paperwork for it, he says.
– Do you see it as likely that he can become a future Norwegian national team player?
“One hundred percent. He has all the prerequisites for it if he continues as he is now. It’s certainly within reach,” Cleveland replies.
