PAOK fans storm Toumba Stadium over Giannis Konstantelias transfer to Borussia Dortmund

Hundreds of PAOK supporters have protested at the club’s Toumba Stadium after the Greek side agreed to sell their highly rated playmaker Giannis Konstantelias to Borussia Dortmund.

Around 400 fans gathered outside the stadium on Sunday, with some entering the club’s administrative offices to demand an explanation from owner Ivan Savvidis. The supporters were hoping to persuade the 67-year-old businessman to abandon the deal for the Greece international.

Konstantelias, 23, is one of the most prominent players to have emerged from PAOK’s academy. Since becoming part of the first-team squad in 2021, he has scored 44 goals and provided 26 assists in 190 appearances.

The attacking midfielder helped PAOK win both the Greek Super League and Greek Cup, and also played a key role in the club reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League two years ago.

Despite his importance to the team and popularity among supporters, PAOK have agreed to sell him to Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth about £22m. Konstantelias is set to sign a five-year contract with the German club, earning £2.6m a year.

The agreement also includes up to £5m in additional incentives, while PAOK will retain 17.5% of any future sale. If all the bonuses are activated, Konstantelias will become the most expensive outgoing transfer in the club’s history.

According to the British newspaper The Sun, the protests were also linked to Dortmund’s close relationship with Aris, PAOK’s traditional rivals.

The unrest comes after the departure of manager Razvan Lucescu this summer. Lucescu is regarded as the most successful manager in PAOK’s history, having guided the club to two Greek Super League titles and two Greek Cup triumphs during two separate spells across seven years.

The latest protests have also revived memories of a notorious incident involving Savvidis eight years ago. During a match against AEK Athens, the PAOK owner entered Toumba Stadium with a pistol visible in his belt after his side had a goal disallowed for offside.

The episode resulted in Savvidis being banned from attending stadiums for three years and fined £87,000. PAOK were also deducted three points and fined a further £55,000, a punishment that contributed to the club losing the league title in 2018.

Konstantelias later met a supporter on his arrival at Dortmund airport. The fan connected him to the crowd gathered at Toumba via a live video call, during which the player told supporters that leaving PAOK was his own decision.

The midfielder had already been linked with a move away from the club on two occasions in the past two years. He was reported to be close to joining Red Bull Salzburg in 2024 and was on the verge of signing for Stuttgart last year in a deal worth £15m, plus several million pounds in potential bonuses.

That transfer was cancelled at the last moment after Savvidis responded to pressure from PAOK supporters. Reports at the time claimed the owner even told Konstantelias to return from the airport before boarding his flight to Germany.

Konstantelias subsequently signed a new contract running until 2029 on improved terms. The agreement was understood to include an “honour agreement” that Savvidis would not block a future departure if the player clearly expressed a desire to leave.