AZ Alkmaar Striker Vangelis Pavlidis: Is the Bundesliga Next?

Vangelis Pavlidis lives in Alkmaar, the Netherlands, on the fourth floor with a view of the IJsselmeer. He feels great. Certainly also a reason for his performance explosion. The 24-year-old AZ Alkmaar striker has been impressive this season in the Eredivisie. Will he soon be in the Bundesliga?

How SPORTS1 knows, Pavlidis can already change this summer for a fee of twelve million euros, and there is already interest from the Premier League. Pavlidis has scored 47 goals in 90 games in the first team. He prepared 21 goals for this. The club finished fourth at the end of the season.

At his former club Willem II Tilburg it was 33 goals and 14 assists. And he has already scored on the European stage against the likes of Lazio in the Conference League – where Alkmaar only lost to West Ham in the semi-finals. Pavlidis was also nominated for the FIFA Puskas Award 2021 for his goal against Fortuna Sittard.

Born in Thessaloniki, Pavlidis is of course happy with his development. “My game isn’t just about goals. I also have to be able to hold balls and help with the pressing. I don’t shy away from duels,” says the 24-year-old, who is currently one of the strongest runners in the Netherlands SPORTS1.

Pavlidis owes much of today’s game to Schalke coach Thomas Reis, who was his coach in the U19s at VfL Bochum. “In the U17s, I was initially a centre-forward. Thomas Reis then put me on the left flank. At first I didn’t understand. But it was an incredibly important time because I learned new qualities that I would not have learned as a classic centre-forward,” explains Pavlidis.

“I had to use my left foot a lot, had a lot more ball contacts, a lot more dribbling, a lot more one-on-one actions.” Technically, he was “much more challenged”. He has also “become much more flexible” and improved his flanking game. “I also got into more duels defensively. I’ve become more variable on the left winger.”

Pavlidis, who moved to Bochum at the age of 16, ended up playing for the pros. In 2015, Pavlidis came on for Janik Haberer in the 78th minute in the game against 1. FC Heidenheim and celebrated his debut in the 2nd division at the age of 17.

“We don’t have a long history together. I got to know Vangelis back then as a tough, humble worker,” recalls Simon Terodde, ex-teammate in Bochum SPORTS1. “He was quiet and hardworking. The move to the Netherlands was perfect for him. He developed calmly there and was also able to attract international attention.”

In his hallway, Pavlidis has a display case with his collected awards, he says. The Greek was “Man of the Match” several times and scored the “Goal van de Maand”, i.e. the goal of the month, for AZ. Pavlidis also owns a golden shoe as a symbol for the “player of the season”.

11 friends Pavlidis was one of the most valuable attackers in the Shooters 2022 category. The magazine once wrote of him: “There is hope for all football romantics. Alkmaars Vangelis Pavlidis is on the list of several Bundesliga clubs because of his clipping qualities and could soon be following in the footsteps of Greek demigods like Ioannis Amanatidis, Angelos Charisteas or Theofanis Gekas.”

The three became successful top strikers in the Bundesliga. Pavlidis’ biggest role model is Luis Suárez (played for FC Barcelona from 2014 to 2020), whose world career began with Groningen.

“He’s an incredible footballer. With his style, he can carry a whole team along, lift them up and always leads the way. Suárez is not afraid of dribbling and has the ability to outplay two or three opponents. I like his passion for working football.”

Pavlidis once went from Germany via Bochum and Borussia Dortmund II to Willem II Tilburg in the Netherlands. From there he moved on to Alkmaar. A short time later, PSV Eindhoven and Nottingham Forest were the first interested parties to come along. Pavlidis initially wants to continue his run at Alkmaar.

He has long established himself and has learned to hold his own against top defensive specialists such as Lisandro Martínez (when he was at Ajax Amsterdam) and Edson Álvarez (Ajax Amsterdam). “These are brutal opponents. They work on you with all means,” says Pavlidis. Dutchman and former Hamburger SV captain Rafael van der Vaart is also full of praise for Pavlidis.

“I think he’s on the way to becoming a top striker,” the 40-year-old said recently Football International. For the ex-national player, Pavlidis is also better than Luuk de Jong. And he has become Dutch champion and Europa League winner four times. Pierre van Hooijdonk’s verdict on Pavlidis was also positive in the newspaper: “I think he’s the best striker in the Eredivisie at the moment.”