José Lloyd Cholevas (; born 27 June 1984), better known as José Holebas (Greek: Χοσέ Χολέμπας), is a former professional footballer who played as a left-back. Born in Germany, he represented the Greece national team.
Early life José Lloyd Holebas (né Cholevas) was born on 27 June 1984 in Aschaffenburg, West Germany, to a Greek father, Achilles, from Vasiliki, Trikala, and a German-American mother, Lowis. Achilles left the family not long after he was born and José was raised only by his mother and her family.
Club career
Early years Holebas' first club was local youth team Südring, which he joined in 1992 when he was eight. He played at non-professional youth football teams in German football which included playing for Südring, FC Kleinwallstadt and TSV Teutonia Obernau until 2001, when his girlfriend got pregnant and Holebas, at age 18, decided to temporarily give up football. He had to work the double shift as a warehouse assistant in order to financially support his family. A year later, in 2002 and with the guidance of his German-American uncle, Alfonso, whom Holebas described as his "second father" and stated that he was the person who "gave [him] the kicks [he] needed to get [his] life back on track," helped him begin playing football again. He played for local German youth side Aschaffenburg-Damm from 2002 to 2005.
Viktoria Kahl In 2005, Holebas joined German sixth-tier club FC Viktoria Köln in the Landesliga Bayern-Nordwest. Under then-manager Antonio Abbruzzese, he was mainly deployed as a striker and scored 15 goals in 33 appearances and finished among Landesliga's top scorers.
1860 Munich
After prominent performances as a striker for Viktoria Köln, 1860 Munich scouts observed the left-back, and later approached him and Holebas joined the club in the summer of 2006. In his first season in Munich, Holebas was in 1860's second team, where, at 22 years of age, he was considered "too old" by the club's then-youth academy coach, Ernst Tanner. Holebas officially made his debut for 1860 Munich II on 5 August 2006 in a Regionalliga Süd game against 1899 Hoffenheim. A year later, in the summer of 2007, Holebas signed his first professional contract with the first team. He made his professional debut for the "Munich Lions" on 21 September 2007 at 23 years of age against St. Pauli, in a 2. Bundesliga game.
Holebas accumulated three years of footballing experience in the German second tier with 1860 Munich, with the side finishing 11th in 2007–08, 12th in 2008–09 (while also dropping back to 1860 Munich II for a number of games) and 8th in 2009–10. In the summer of 2009, new coach Ewald Lienen, advised 25-year-old Holebas to stay back in defence and play as a left wing-back.
Holebas finished his five-season stint in Germany with both Viktoria Köln and 1860 Munich, scoring a total of 34 goals in 154 games in all competitions. Despite initially disliking 1860 as a child due to being a childhood fan of the club's fierce cross-city Munich rivals Bayern, Holebas stated his changed opinion of the club that gave him his breakthrough in professional football, stating, "I'll forever be grateful to 1860 Munich."
Olympiacos
2010–11 season Ewald Lienen left 1860 Munich to become the coach of Super League Greece club Olympiacos. Lienen then consecutively signed Holebas for a transfer fee of €500,000. Holebas stated in an interview, "My father is Greek, but this is only the second time that I have come back to the country. When I was [here] first here, I was very young and do not remember many things, but I must say that I am very happy to play in the old country."
On 15 July 2010, Holebas made his debut for Olympiacos in a 5–0 away victory over Albanian club Besa Kavajë in the first leg of a Europa League second qualifying round tie. On 5 August, Olympiacos were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv, on the away goals rule and after a 2–2 draw. Olympiacos sacked Lienen; the new coach, Ernesto Valverde, began to use Holebas both as a defending and an attacking left winger, depending on Olympiacos' opponent. Holebas scored his first goal for the club on 20 March 2011 in a 6–0 home league win over AEK Athens, which sealed the club's 38th Greek championship title.
2011–12 season On 19 October 2011, Holebas opened the score with a header against Borussia Dortmund in a 3–1 home victory on matchday 3 of the Champions League group stage. On 3 March 2012, Holebas scored his second goal of the season in a 2–0 away league victory over OFI, a goal that won the Super League goal of the week award.
On 11 March, the next week, Holebas scored Olympiacos' second goal from the penalty spot in a 3–0 league away win over Aris. Olympiacos went on to retain their league title for their second season in a row, winning their 39th Greek Championship title. On 28 April, Holebas started the Greek Cup Final against Atromitos, where he missed a penalty kick in the first-half. Despite this, Olympiacos went on to win the Cup 2–1 after extra time, at the Athens Olympic Stadium. Holebas in the 2011–12 season scored 3 goals in 35 games in all competitions.
2012–13 season On 23 September 2012, Holebas executed his first goal of the season by scoring Olympiacos' second goal in a 4–1 home league win over Panthrakikos. On 7 October, Holebas scored his second goal of the season by netting Olympiacos' first and only goal of the game in a 1–0 league home win over Asteras Tripolis. The next week, Holebas scored his third goal of the season by scoring the second goal in a 4–0 home league win over Skoda Xanthi. On 29 October, Holebas scored his fourth goal of the season by scoring Olympiacos' second goal and second equalizer in a 2–2 away league draw against Aris. Olympiacos went on to retain their league title for a third season in a row, their 40th Greek Championship title.
On 11 May 2013, Holebas started and played in the Greek Cup final, where Olympiacos went on to retain the cup for a second season in a row with a 3–1 victory after extra time over Asteras Tripoli with goals from David Fuster, Rafik Djebbour and Djamel Abdoun at the Athens Olympic Stadium. Holebas the 2012–13 season scoring four goals in 40 games in all competitions, winning another league and cup double.
2013–14 season In the summer of 2013, rumours were arisen that Holebas would join Turkish club Beşiktaş, according to the Turkish media, which reported that he had agreed to sign a deal with the Black Eagles. The Turks reportedly offered the 29-year-old defender a three-year contract, with an annual salary reaching €750,000, a significant pay rise than what he was being paid by Olympiacos. The deal, however, was not completed, and Holebas decided to stay in Piraeus, subsequently signing a contract extension lasting until 2017.
On 27 October 2013, Holebas scored his first goal of the season by netting Olympiacos's third goal with a wonderful free-kick in a 5–1 league home win over OFI. On 18 January 2014, he scored his second goal of the season by netting their second goal in a 2–0 home league win over Levadiakos. Olympiacos went on to retain their league title again for a fourth season in a row by winning their 41st Greek championship. He finished the 2013–14 campaign scoring two goals in 29 games in all competitions and winning another League title.
Holebas finished his very successful four-season stint with Olympiacos by netting ten toal goals in 135 games in all competitions, and also by winning the Super League Greece four times in 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 and 2013–14; the Greek Cup twice and in a row in 2011–12 and 2012–13; and participating in both the Champions League and Europa League.
Roma On 30 August 2014, Holebas moved to Italy and joined top-tier league Serie A club Roma for a €1 million transfer fee from Olympiacos, plus €500,000 in bonuses, and signed a three-year contract with the side. After being presented to the media in Rome by Roma CEO Italo Zanzi, Holebas stated why he joined Roma in a press conference: "I had other offers, but I decided on Roma because they are a great club at a European level. Was I expecting this move? I had discussions, it was a difficult situation because I was at the World Cup, but I am happy to be here because this is a great club. My preferred position? Certainly I will do my best. I am a left-back, playing in an attacking manner. I can also play at centre-back, but the Coach will decide."
On 24 September 2014, Holebas made his debut for the club, by playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 away league victory over Parma in their fourth match of the 2014–15 Serie A. On 30 November, Holebas scored his first goal for Roma in an important 4–2 home victory over Inter Milan in their 13th match of Serie A to stay in touch with the top of the table. He finished his 2014–15 season scoring one goal in 34 games in all competitions, whilst keeping experienced English international left-back Ashley Cole out of the team for much of the season. For the second season in a row, Roma finished runners-up to league champions Juventus, marking for the first time since the 2009–10 season that Holebas did not win any piece of silverware.
Transfer speculation and controversy On 25 June 2015, it was reported that recently promoted Premier League club Watford were close to securing a deal for Holebas after the side confirmed interest by contacting the Italians and admiring the player's profile; they allegedly offered between €2–3 million for his services. At that point, there was a summit at Trigoria between Roma Sporting Director Walter Sabatini and the entire staff, including head coach Rudi Garcia and Simone Beccaccioli. Talks between the two clubs continued, where it was growing likely that the deal would officially be announced the following Monday. Fabio Parisi, Holebas' agent, spoke to VoceGiallorossa about the situation: "Nothing is done. There is confirmation of Watford’s interest, but there is absolutely nothing done. For now, the player's will is to have a holiday." On 2 July, Watford officially announced the signing of the Greek international from Roma, which Holebas denied when he found out 24 hours later after the announcement, claiming he did not know anything about it. He later stated in an interview, "They arranged my transfer without asking me. I haven't signed anything yet, I have to see the contract first. I don't know why this has happened, I know that both Roma and Watford announced my transfer, but they'd have to talk to my representatives first. I never said I wanted to leave Roma. I'll sign after first agreeing to the terms of the contract. I can't understand why this has happened, I came back from my holiday in Dubai and everyone started telling me my transfer had been officially announced. I'm in Germany right now, how could I sign a contract?" Following that claim, and after days of confusion and wondering if Holebas was going to either continue his contact and talks with Watford and eventually sign for them, or if he was going to turn his back on Watford's offer to stay committed to the three-year deal he signed at Roma a year earlier, it was reported that on 5 July that Holebas had decided to revive his contact and discussions with Watford.
Watford Watford eventually officially completed the signing of Holebas for an initial fee of £1.8 million, which Roma confirmed. On 8 August 2015, he made his debut for the club, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–2 away league draw against Everton in their opening 2015–16 Premier League match and Watford's return to the top division. He picked up a yellow card in the match.