The year may not be over for the men’s Volley League teams, but preparations for next season’s rosters have begun.

Especially with Olympiakos just waiting for the game to drop the curtain with Kifissia and usually several contacts have been made and in the near future we are expected to enter the announcements part.

On the other hand, Panathinaikos, PAOK and Finikas ONEX all have a claim to the League Cup which all three want to win. Therefore, all final contacts are made immediately afterwards.

The first class Greeks and the number of foreigners

The first two facts we need to look at for the transfer market are the top-flight Greeks and the number of foreigners who will be allowed into the new season.

The first is a problem that has existed in Greek volleyball for years and that is why almost every year we see certain players changing jerseys. This is expected to happen again this year, perhaps to a lesser extent. Top-notch Greeks are few and far between, and teams choose the positions they need every year.

The number of foreigners allowed in the teams is another important point, as another design will be created with four foreigners and another when the number increases to five. However, most teams proceed with the number “4” in mind.

The first dates for all groups

Now let’s look at the data that has been forming across the teams and is expected to become clearer in the coming days.

• Panathinaikos: The champion Panathinaikos wants to preserve his upper body. The one that led him back to the top. Andreopoulos and Protopsaltis were hit by teams from abroad but both will speak to the greens to clean up the landscape. Of course, Andreopoulos would have them in the squad he hopes to build for the new season. There will be a talk with the foreigners to make the last contacts in the near future. At the same time, however, everything indicates that Zisis will wear the green for the third time in his career. Additionally, names like Hernandez’s are hard to prove with current data unless there are differences on the financial part. Next season’s budget will be bigger, but not enough to fulfill contracts like the great Cuban’s. At least with the available data.
• Olympic: The Red-Whites want to keep Giuliani on their bench and give him the keys to the team for the next two years to fulfill his wishes. Contacts with both the coach and the players started a long time ago. It is significant that in Italy it is assumed that Travica and Stern will land at Olympiacos from the beginning of April. Pagenk stays with the Reds and Whites and it remains to be seen where the ball will lie with the foreign winger. There’s always the case of Fromm, who was great last year, but it will all depend on what type of player the red-whites want. Of course, if the number of foreigners stays at four, Olympiacos will need to bring in a Greek winger and that’s the beans. Koumentakis’ name can already be heard for the red-whites, while we shouldn’t take Andreas Frangos (who also plays for Panathinaikos) out. Olympiacos’ goal is to have made great progress in planning next season in the near future.
• PAOK: It goes without saying that Dikefalos will continue to make changes in the proportion of foreigners while trying to keep top-class Greeks at its disposal. Kokkinakis has already agreed, Petreas will also stay. Although many will clarify in the near future. The presence of Walsh and Zeit should be taken for granted by foreigners, while Udris is questionable.
• Phoenix of Syros: The Syrians appear to need to make changes to their squad. Juric will stay while Michalovic stays as well. On the other hand, Olympiacos have their sights set on Karasavvidis while Andreas Frangos is likely to leave for family reasons. On the other hand, of course, there will be money, but the difficult thing for the Syrians, as always, is to convince the players to join Syros. Both Cycladic teams in women’s volleyball (Pannaxiakos and AO Thira) face similar problems, but despite the good money the players give, they prefer Athens and Thessaloniki.

Going abroad will decide a lot

All of this needs to be confirmed in the near future to see where the Ferments will sit in the rosters, but also in the number of foreigners. If there is an increase in foreign players, a lot of the data in the teams and of course in their transfer plans will change.

At the same time, it remains to be seen which Greeks will ultimately go abroad, as there is always a distance between interest and proposals. Of course, as more top-notch people go abroad, teams will have fewer choices.

So be patient for a few more days until we see where the ball will land and have a clearer picture of next season’s squads.