Nicholas Ioannou was once at Manchester United before his career took him to many different clubs across Europe.
Now enjoying life at Sampdoria in Serie B, the 28-year-old’s journey has been full of downs, but he is now slowly charting a redemption story in Italy.
Whilst most Manchester United supporters wouldn’t recognise his name, making it at Old Trafford was his number one aim from 2006 to 2014.
Gazzetta dello Sport have looked back on his time at Manchester United, explaining that Ioannou’s life has had a fair amount of ‘ambitions’ and ‘broken dreams’.
One of his dreams was to make the grade at Manchester United, where a hip injury kept him out for four months just when his best progress was taking place. The report states that a professional contract was ready for the Cypriot, but the Red Devils ended up ‘dumping’ him as then-manager David Moyes wasn’t keen on having him in the squad.
There is further mention of the fact that United were strongly looking to keep him at the club, with the outlet mentioning that his performances for the Under-18s side had gained a lot of praise internally. The higher-ups at the club were seriously considering handing him a deal.
It was during a Milk Cup game that Ioannou sustained a hip injury and from that point on, the English giants ‘forgot’ about him and moved on. The contract that was ready for him was then torn up.
His exit came in 2014, after which he had stints at APOEL Nicosia, Nottingham Forest, Aris and at Como. Life is now far better for Ioannou at Sampdoria, where he feels reborn.
