Theofanis Gekas

Theofanis "Fanis" Gekas (; born 23 May 1980 in Larissa) is a Greece football (soccer) Striker (football) who currently plays for the Germany club Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Gekas is a regular for the Greece national football team. Theofanis Gekas has been the top goalscorer of the Super League Greece and the Fußball-Bundesliga in previous seasons.

Club career

Greece

Theofanis Gekas started Theofanis Gekas professional career at Theofanis Gekas local club AEL 1964 (then of the Beta Ethniki). In the summer of 2001 after three years at AEL 1964 Theofanis Gekas moved to Kallithea FC. In Theofanis Gekas first season Kallithea was promoted to the Greek first division. Gekas had scored 30 goals in 87 second division matches.

Gekas kept scoring goals, so the Greek top clubs became interested in him. After scoring 32 goals in 73 matches Gekas moved to Panathinaikos during the 2005 winter break. At Theofanis Gekas new club Gekas kept up the scoring and became top goal scorer of the Greek league in 2005 (17 goals). Theofanis Gekas shot into the national squad, where Theofanis Gekas made Theofanis Gekas debut in the 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory against Albania in March 2005, despite never having represented the Greek national side at junior level. In the Confederations Cup 2005 Gekas was part of the team of the European champion.

With Panathinaikos, Gekas scored 23 goals in 41 appearances. In the season 2005–06 Gekas made Theofanis Gekas debut in the UEFA Champions League and came second in the Greek top goalscorers list.

VfL Bochum

The 2. Fußball-Bundesliga club VfL Bochum already showed interest in Gekas in the spring of 2006, but Panathinaikos wanted €1.5 million for its forward, which was too much money for the German club.

But in the summer of 2006 Panathinaikos signed Greek top scorer Dimitris Salpigidis from PAOK FC Thessaloniki - one of the reasons was that Gekas didn't want to sign a long-term contract. As part of the deal Gekas should have been transferred to PAOK, but Gekas refused to be transferred to the club. Panathinakos's owner Giannis Vardinogiannis felt personally insulted and loaned Gekas to newly-promoted VfL Bochum for only €300,000. VfL Bochum had the right to buy Gekas for €700,000 at the end of the season if they remained in the First Division.

During the 2006–07 season VfL Bochum was again fighting against relegation, but within a short period Gekas became one of the stars of the team and very popular among the fans. They called Theofanis Gekas the "Greek god" and Theofanis Gekas goals were celebrated with Sirtakis. Coach Marcel Koller accurately described Theofanis Gekas in November 2006 as their "life insurance," as Bochum in fact remained in the top German league due mainly to Gekas' many goals. Gekas finished the Bundesliga season as top scorer, with a final tally of 20 goals.

Bayer Leverkusen

At the end of April 2007 VfL Bochum intimated that Gekas would play for Bayer 04 Leverkusen starting in the following season. The transfer fee was not immediately certain because the two clubs chose a quite bizarre construction: Bayer 04 Leverkusen would pay €700,000 at the end of the season to Panathinaikos, and if Bochum were to be relegated, they would get €1.5 million from Leverkusen, but if they were to remain in the Bundesliga First Division they would get €4 million. Gekas' future salary at Bayer Leverkusen is estimated to be €2 million a year, four times what Theofanis Gekas earned at VfL Bochum.

Gekas' first game for Bayer Leverkusen was a friendly which Bayer won 15-1; Gekas scored seven of those 15. However despite a promising start and being the top scorer for Bayer Leverkusen in the 2007-08 season, Gekas has been consistently dropped by coach Michael Skibbe making mostly sub appearances. Following an injury to teammate Dmitri Bulykin, Gekas was place back into the starting 11 and made quite the come back; scoring three goals in three games including two winners against SV Hamburg which earned Leverkusen a quarter-final spot in the UEFA Cup in March 2008.

Loan to Portsmouth

On 2 February 2009 Theofanis Gekas signed for Portsmouth F.C. on loan for the remainder of the 2008-09 season. Gekas was brought in by manager Tony Adams (footballer) with a view to a permanent deal however, very soon after Theofanis Gekas move Adams was sacked and replaced by caretaker Paul Hart. Gekas was not given any games and went on to criticise Hart and stated Theofanis Gekas desire to leave the club, with FC Zenit St. Petersburg reportedly interested. On 11 April 2009 Theofanis Gekas finally made a substitute appearance for one minute when Theofanis Gekas came on for Jermaine Pennant.

Theofanis Gekas loan period was terminated by Portsmouth on 21 May 2009 two weeks earlier than initially expected as Theofanis Gekas 'apparently' refused to play against Sunderland A.F.C.. Theofanis Gekas then returned to Bayer Leverkusen.

International goals

Honours

Individual

- Greek Superleague Top Goalscorer: 2004–05
- Bundesliga top scorers: Fußball-Bundesliga 2006–07

Personal life

Shortly after the 2008 European Championships Theofanis Gekas wife Vasso gave birth to twins Nikolaos and Mikaela-Lamprini.