Vangelis Pavlidis wore the VfL Bochum shirt as a young player. Now he is moving to Benfica Lisbon for several million euros.
He failed to make the breakthrough at the then second division club VfL Bochum, played for Borussia Dortmund’s U23s in the Regionalliga West – and a few years later he made one of the most expensive transfers of the summer so far.
We are talking about Vangilis Pavlidis. Benfica Lisbon paid €18 million for the services of the 25-year-old striker, who most recently played for AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands. Bonuses could increase the transfer fee to 20 million euros.
After strong performances in recent years, Pavlidis has been in the European spotlight for some time. His 29 goals in 34 appearances for Alkmaar last season ensured that Benfica met Alkmaar’s high demands for the Eredivisie’s top scorer.
“When Benfica call you, you can’t say no,” explained Pavlidis during his introduction to the Portuguese top club. The club stands for “Champions League and trophies”, emphasized the Greek international – ten years after VfL Bochum brought him from Greece to its youth department.
Pavlidis only played four times for VfL Bochum
However, Pavlidis was unable to establish himself with the professionals of the then second division club. “Perhaps he wasn’t technically ready to gain an immediate foothold in professional soccer under pressure from opponents,” his former coach Jan Siewert told 90Plus a few weeks ago.
Pavlidis only made four appearances for the VfL professionals and failed to score a goal. Due to a lack of prospects, Bochum loaned him to Borussia Dortmund’s U23s and then to Willem II in the Netherlands, where the striker got rolling. Siewert: “In terms of applying technique under pressure, calmness and precision in finishing and goal-scoring runs, he took another step forward in Holland.”
Pavlidis scored 85 goals in 165 appearances in the Eredivisie and will soon be playing in the European Cup with Benfica. You can read about how VfL Bochum will benefit financially from the transfer here from our colleagues at WAZ.