Former Schalke player Kyriakos Papadopoulos is looking for a new club. His contract in Greece has been dissolved.
Kyriakos Papadopoulos is without a club for the third time in the last four years. Just four months after signing for APO Levadiakos, the contract was terminated by mutual agreement on Monday. The central defender played eight games for the Greek first division club, missing the last two games due to injury.
“We thank him for his contribution to our team and wish him all the best in his career,” the Greek club announced on social media.
The 32-year-old played for PAS Lamia for almost a year and a half before joining APO Levadiakos. Papadopoulos has also played in Croatia, Saudi Arabia and Romania. However, he is best known for his time in Germany. In 2010, at just 18 years of age, the uncompromising defender transferred from Olympiakos Piräus to FC Schalke 04. It was at the Gelsenkirchen-based club that he experienced the best and most successful time of his career.
The 1.85-meter man with his robust style of play quickly became a crowd favorite. In his first season, he won the DFB Cup with Schalke in a one-sided final against MSV Duisburg (5-0). In this game, Papadopoulos played the full 90 minutes.
Papadopoulos reached the Champions League semi-finals with Schalke
The center-back also played an important role in the Champions League run that sensationally reached the semi-finals in 2011. Papadopoulos played through in both quarter-final matches against the then defending champions Inter Milan (5-2, 2-1) and in the semi-final matches against Manchester United (0-2, 1-4).
In total, the now 32-year-old played 97 competitive games for Schalke between 2010 and 2014 (7 goals). He would have easily broken the 100-game mark had he not missed almost a year due to knee surgery. Nevertheless, he played more matches for no club in his career. After his time at Schalke, Papadopoulos also played for Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Hamburger SV. Now he is without a club and it will be interesting to see where the next journey takes him.