The 2021–22 season was the 98th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 61st competitive season and seventh consecutive in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup and the Europa Conference League. The season began on 22 July 2021 and finished on 17 May 2022.
Kits
Overview After a season in which European participation was secured at the last moment, the decision was made to make changes across the squad. A search for a new manager, a new sporting director and many new signings were the task for the upcoming season. Dimitris Melissanidis chose Vladan Milojević as the new manager, who was known from his time in Greece both as a player and manager, as well as from his successful spell at Red Star Belgrade. Several transfers were made, with the permanent return of the old acquaintances, Ognjen Vranješ and Sergio Araujo, while international players, such as Cican Stanković, Georgios Tzavellas, Lazaros Rota, Ehsan Hajsafi, Milad Mohammadi and Nordin Amrabat also arrived. However, the transfer that stood out, was that of the Swiss international, Steven Zuber, who came as a loan. Players with great contribution in the previous seasons with the likes of Dmytro Chyhrynskyi, Hélder Lopes, Nenad Krstičić and Nélson Oliveira left the team.
The start of the season found AEK in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League, facing Velež Mostar, a relative "unknown" club in Europe with the only thing that the yellow-black fans knew about was that they were the team that Dušan Bajević began his football and managerial career. The match took place at Stadion Grbavica, away from their natural home, due to its unsuitability for holding European matches. AEK who were the undisputed favourite, entered the match well and managed to take an early lead with Ansarifard, but a mistake by Tsintotas brought the quick equalization for the Bosnians. AEK looked superior and should have taken the lead again, but a second goal by Ansarifard was wrongly ruled out for offside. As time went on, Velež started to increase their performance and eventually made the 2–1, which surprisingly remained as the final score that put AEK in trouble. The second leg and qualification were judged a week later at the Olympic Stadium. It was the first season that UEFA approved the proposal to abolish the away goals rule in all their competitions, thus the Greek club needed two goals to qualify at the normal time. The match from the beginning was a monologue for AEK, but the Bosnians were positioned correctly on the pitch and did not leave any free spaces. Time passed and AEK became more and more stressed, but in the final minutes of the stoppage time a goal by Mantalos, sent the match went to extra time, since the away goals rule no longer applied. Without anything changing, the match eventually went to penalty shootout, where the most humiliating elimination in the European history of AEK Athens took place, as they lost 2–3 by Velež Mostar.
The season had already started badly from very early on, but after the elimination the transfer moves were completed, and the team seemed ready in claiming titles. In the beginning, AEK showed that they had a quality roster, but they lacked the psychology and determination to compete for the title race. The first negative results of the team raised doubts to the administration about Milojević. Nevertheless, in October, the contract of Serbian manager was mutually terminated. AEK found themselves yet again looking for a manager in the midst of the season. Although most were in favor of a foreign experienced manager, Melissanidis decided to give a chance to the promising Argiris Giannikis, who had a very good presence for two seasons at PAS Giannina. As usual the change of manager initially brought some positive results, but it quickly became apparent that many things were missing from the team to emerge as real contenders for the title.
In the Cup, AEK making an extensive rotation and the manager giving time to players that didn't compete much during the previous games easily passed through A.E. Kifisia for the round of 16. In the quarter-finals they faced PAOK. Despite their good image at both legs, they were again eliminated by the club of Thessaloniki, after their collapse in the final minutes of the stoppage time of the second leg at home, where they conceded two goals, and the game was turned around for PAOK.
After bad results which included 3 home defeats and an embarrassing away 3–0 against Panathinaikos, brought the expected end to the tenure of Giannikis at AEK. The person who was called to close the season and try to achieve the minimum of the goals, that was a place in the next season's UEFA competitions, was the manager of the newly-formed B team, Sokratis Ofrydopoulos, as caretaker. Furthermore, with the initiative of Melissanidis, the Polish superstar, Grzegorz Krychowiak was brought to play just for the play-offs, in order to increase the chances of the team for a European ticket. AEK entered the play-offs at the 4th place and with consecutive matches that without a win, their goal was decided on the penultimate matchday at Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium against Aris. AEK only wanted only victory, they entered the match well, they took a 0–2 lead and afterwards collapsed eventually losing by 3–2. AEK managed to stay out of Europe, in the worst year it had after their comeback from their relegation. The team had literally reached rock bottom and in the last and indifferent match of the year against Olympiacos at home, there were protests of the fans against the management and players, for the shameful year they had.
The situation at the club appeared difficult, with the administration having already reached an agreement with Matías Almeyda to take over as manager the following season. At the same time, preparations were nearing completion for their return to their natural home ground, the nearly completed Agia Sophia Stadium. The return to the stadium was therefore set to coincide with a period of significant sporting uncertainty for the club.
Management team
Players
Squad information NOTE: The players are the ones that have been announced by the AEK Athens' press release. No edits should be made unless a player arrival or exit is announced. Updated 17 May 2022, 23:59 UTC+3.
No.PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers 1 Panagiotis Tsintotas GK 2017 Levadiakos Free 2023 23 Cican Stanković GK 2021 Red Bull Salzburg €1,150,000 2025 Defenders 2 Michalis Bakakis (Vice-captain 2) RB / LB / CB / RM 2014 Panetolikos €250,000 2023 3 Milad Mohammadi LB / LM / LW 2021 Gent Free 2025 5 Stratos Svarnas CB / RB 2018 Xanthi Free 2025 12 Lazaros Rota RB / RM 2021 Fortuna Sittard Free 2024 19 Clément Michelin RB / RM 2021 Lens €1,000,000 2025 21 Ognjen Vranješ (Vice-captain 3) CB / RB 2021 Anderlecht Free 2024 24 Gerasimos Mitoglou CB 2021 Volos €300,000 2025 26 Ehsan Hajsafi LB / LM / LW / AM / CM / DM 2021 Sepahan Free 2023 31 Georgios Tzavellas CB / LB 2021 Alanyaspor €400,000 2023 Midfielders 4 Damian Szymański CM / DM / AM 2020 Akhmat Grozny 1,300,000 2024 6 Damien Le Tallec DM / CB / CM 2021 Montpellier Free 2024 8 André Simões (Vice-captain) DM / CM 2015 Moreirense Free 2022 14 Alexander Fransson CM / DM / AM / RM 2022 Norrköping Free 2023 16 Grzegorz Krychowiak DM / CM / CB / AM 2022 Krasnodar Free 2022 17 Steven Zuber LM / LW / AM / RM / RW / SS / ST 2021 Eintracht Frankfurt €400,000 2022 20 Petros Mantalos (Captain) AM / LM / CM / LW / SS / RM / RW 2014 Xanthi €500,000 2024 25 Konstantinos Galanopoulos (Vice-captain 4) CM / DM 2015 AEK Athens U20 — 2023 28 Yevhen Shakhov CM / AM / DM 2020 Lecce Free 2022 88 Darko Jevtić AM / CM / RM / LM / RW / LW / SS 2021 Rubin Kazan Free 2022 Forwards 7 Nordin Amrabat RW / LW / RM / LM / AM / SS / ST 2021 Al Nassr Free 2023 9 Levi García RW / RM / ST / SS / LW / LM 2020 Beitar Jerusalem €2,600,000 2025 10 Karim Ansarifard ST 2020 Al-Sailiya Free 2023 11 Sergio Araujo (Vice-captain 2) ST / SS / LW / RW 2021 Las Palmas €1,462,500 2024 22 Muamer Tanković LW / SS / RW / LM / RM / ST / AM 2020 Hammarby Free 2024 Left during Summer Transfer Window — Hélder Lopes LB / LM / LW 2017 Las Palmas Free 2022 — Christos Albanis LW / RW / LM / RM / SS 2018 Apollon Smyrnis €400,000 2024 Left during Winter Transfer Window 33 Oleh Danchenko RB / RM / LB / LM 2021 Rubin Kazan €400,000 2024 From AEK Athens B 30 Panagiotis Ginis GK 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2023 61 Vasilios Chatziemmanouil GK 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2025 99 Georgios Theocharis GK 2020 AEK Athens U19 — 2024 15 Žiga Laci CB 2020 Mura €400,000 2026 37 Vedad Radonja RB / LB / RM / DM 2020 Dinamo Zagreb U19 Free 2025 40 Mario Mitaj LB / LM / LW 2020 AEK Athens U17 — 2026 63 Georgios Kornezos CB 2019 Ethnikos Piraeus Free 2022 44 Anel Šabanadžović CM / DM 2019 Željezničar €450,000 2023 46 Konstantinos Roukounakis DM / CM 2021 AEK Athens U19 — 2026 80 Georgios Moustakopoulos DM / CM / AM 2021 Panachaiki Free 2023 97 Judah García AM / LM / LW / CM 2021 NEROCA Free 2024 35 Michalis Kosidis ST 2021 AEK Athens U19 — 2026 52 Efthymis Christopoulos ST / SS / RW / LW 2020 AEK Athens U19 — 2023 77 Christos Giousis RW / LW / RM / LM / SS / AM 2017 AEK Athens U20 — 2022
Transfers
In
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource3 GentFree transfer30 June 20246 MontpellierFree transfer30 June 20247 Al NassrFree transfer30 June 202311 Las Palmas€1,462,50030 June 202412 Fortuna SittardFree transfer30 June 202418 PanetolikosFree transfer30 June 202619 Lens€1,000,00030 June 202521 AnderlechtFree transfer30 June 202423 Red Bull Salzburg€1,150,00030 June 202524 Volos€300,00030 June 202526 SepahanFree transfer30 June 202330 IonikosLoan return30 June 202331 Alanyaspor€400,00030 June 202332 Apollon LarissaLoan return30 June 202244 ŽeljezničarLoan return31 December 202345 AEK Athens U19Promotion30 June 202646 AEK Athens U19Promotion30 June 202648 Apollon LarissaLoan return30 June 202363 Asteras VlachiotiLoan return30 June 202477 PanachaikiLoan return30 June 202291 VolendamLoan return30 June 202492 LamiaLoan return30 June 202194 EpiskopiLoan return30 June 202198 RadLoan return30 June 2025— AldosiviLoan return30 June 2023— MoreirenseLoan return30 June 2022— LamiaLoan return30 June 2022— SpeziaLoan return30 June 2022
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource14 NorrköpingFree transfer 30 June 2023— Al-SailiyaLoan termination30 June 2024— AldosiviLoan return30 June 2023
Out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateSource3 Hapoel Be'er ShevaFree transfer5 Crotone€1,200,0006 Red Star BelgradeContract termination18 AEK Athens Β18 PAOKEnd of contract19 IonikosEnd of contract30 AEK Athens Β32 AEK Athens Β35 AEK Athens Β37 AEK Athens Β44 AEK Athens Β45 AEK Athens Β46 AEK Athens Β48 AEK Athens Β51 PanathinaikosEnd of contract52 AEK Athens Β61 AEK Athens Β63 AEK Athens Β77 AEK Athens Β88 AtromitosEnd of contract91 AEK Athens Β92 AEK Athens Β94 AEK Athens Β98 AEK Athens Β99 AEK Athens Β— Free agentContract termination— Spezia€800,000
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateSource— Free agentContract termination— Vélez SarsfieldContract termination
Notes
a. plus €500,000 if Crotone gets promoted to Serie A
Loan in
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource17 Eintracht Frankfurt€400,00030 June 202288 Rubin KazanFree30 June 2022
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource16 KrasnodarFree30 June 2022
Loan out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource14 Apollon LimassolFree31 May 202226 Al-SailiyaFree30 June 202230 Sheriff TiraspolFree30 June 202253 IonikosFree30 June 2022— AldosiviFree31 December 2021— Anorthosis FamagustaFree30 June 2022
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource33 Zorya LuhanskFree30 June 2023
Contract renewals
PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource15 30 June 202330 June 202640 31 December 202330 June 2026
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure Summer: €4,712,500
Winter: €0