PLAYER PROFILE

Stelios Giannakopoulos

Position: Midfield

Height: 5'8

Weight: 11st 0lbs

Date of Birth: 1974-07-12 Athens, Greece

Stelios Giannakopoulos

Bolton agreed a three-year deal to bring Greek international Stylianos Giannakopoulos to the Reebok Stadium in the summer of 2003.

The highly-rated midfielder turned down an offer to stay with his current club Olympiakos and will instead join Bolton on July 1.

At the time of signing, Giannakopoulos had been capped 17 times for Greece and his 13 goals helped Olympiakos clinch their domestic title.

"Stylianos is a highly-rated player in his homeland and he is looking forward to playing for us," Bolton boss Sam Allardyce.

"I have been tracking his career for quite some time and I am confident that he will add a new dimension to our squad. His main attribute remains his ability to make late runs into the penalty area and his flair to shoot accurately from range. He is an attacking midfielder who knows how to score goals.

"He has done it at the highest level in Europe in the Champions League and he is relishing the prospect of playing alongside our top-line players in the Premiership."

Having done everything at the highest level, it was no surprise that Giannakopolous was part of the Greek squad which won the European Championships in 2004. He was ever present for both club and country througout the 2003/04 season, helping Bolton Wanderers to the Carling Cup final and their highest ever league finish, not to mention helping his country win their first ever major tournament. Stelios helped Greece pull off the shock of the competition when a very organised side beat hosts Portugal in the opening game as well as the final.

This fine form continued into the 2004/05 campaign. He played 38 games and scored 8 goals, including the winner in the final game of the season against Everton.

The 2005/06 season proved to be just as successful as he scored twelve times in forty-six games. He was again an important part of the team in 06/07 as he made 16 starts.