Portsmouth

Angelos Basinas Leaves AEK Athens For Portsmouth

The Greek international midfielder signs up for 18 months at Fratton Park...

Feb 2, 2009 2:04:00 PM

Photo Gallery

Zoom

Basinas - Greece (INTIME)

Teams

Players

Angelos Basinas

Greece international captain Angelos Basinas has severed ties with AEK Athens, allowing him to sign for Portsmouth.

The South Coast club are thought to have landed the player on a free transfer, as hinted at by an official AEK statement:

"AEK FC announces the termination of its co-operation with Angelos Basinas. The administration of AEK thanks the player for his efforts and we hope that his future career will be successful."

Portsmouth, meanwhile, are delighted to have landed the 33-year-old on an 18-month contract.

Club chairman Peter Storrie told the official club website, "We’ve brought in someone of immense experience, the current captain of Greece who is just three games away from winning his 100th cap for his country.

"He’s exactly what we need in the situation that we’re in. He’s a player that Tony was eager to bring to Pompey.

"He desperately wanted to come here and we have an option to sign him for a further year on top of the 18 months."

Basinas ends an unhappy spell at AEK in which he was virtually eliminated from the first-team squad, with most of his appearances being in a position to which he was not accustomed, that of right-back.

A defensive midfielder by trade, the former Panathinaikos hero spent time with Real Mallorca before moving to AEK.

His wage situation at Fratton Park is unknown, but it is thought that AEK have saved €1.6 million on his salary by severing his contract, which had two years to run.

Ewan Macdonald, Goal.com

Thank you for your comment!

Please enter your name

Please enter your location

Please share your comment!