The name Evangelos Patoulidis might not mean anything to Manchester City fans, but it’s one they could have easily been familiar with if he had accepted a move to the Etihad.
The 22-year-old is now without a club despite being a very highly sought after youngster in his early days at Anderlecht.
In an article with DH looking at three players once considered huge talents who are now looking for a new challenge and free agents, Patoulidis recalls a time when he was wanted by the likes of Manchester City, who even made an offer to bring him to England.
Turning 22 in September after leaving Ostende, the winger was originally spotted at the age of 12, when big clubs came knocking.
He said: “I wasn’t that aware what happened behind the scenes at the time. I was carefree. I know Manchester City and Barcelona were interested, but I was happy at Anderlecht. It was my home.”
DH explain that Manchester City offered €400k to the youngster’s parents when he was just 13 to convince them to move him to the north of England, but Anderlecht stood in his way.
It’s explained the Belgian side put in the efforts to ‘keep their talent’, and offered him ‘quite a lot of money too’.
However, two years later, he would sign for Standard Liège, where he stayed for three years before moving to Oostende, where he was released from this summer.
He said: “I had a full season there, and I had a few offers, but not the one for me. I’d rather wait for the right one. Everyone has their path. They spoke about me early on, but I clearly needed to pierce through later. I wouldn’t be the first. Today, I deal with everything myself, without an agent. I stay determined. It will happen.”
