1196 Konstantinos Tzolakis

Biography

Greek international goalkeeper Tzolakis joined Hull City in August 2026, the Tigers fended off emerging interest from other Premier League sides to claim his signature in return for a fee reputed to be £20 million. He made an assured debut on Hull City’s return to the Premier League in August 2026, repelling all efforts from Manchester United’s misfiring forwards.

Konstantinos Tzolakis was born in Chania, the principal city on the Greek island of Crete, and played for his local junior side Platanias until the age of sixteen. In July 2018 he joined the academy setup at Greek Super League giants Olympiacos Piraeus. He excelled for the Under-19 side and in March 2020, just ahead of the COVID19 pandemic lockdown, he made his first team debut in a Greek Cup semi-final tie against PAOK Thessaloniki. Tzolakis also started the September 2020 final of the competition that Olympiacos won by defeating AEK Athens – at the age of seventeen he was a Cup medal winner.

During the 2020/21 season Konstantinos was regularly selected as first team substitute goalkeeper, sitting on the bench for weeks on end. He made his Super League debut in September 2020 against Asteras Tripolis and added four further league starts during the main season and the end of season play-offs as Olympiacos won the league title. He also made one appearance in the Greek Cup and was on the subs’ bench for the May 2021 Greek Cup final that saw PAOK Thessaloniki exact revenge for their defeat a year earlier.

Tzokalis began the 2021/22 season with four starts in the Champions League qualifying campaign but was subsequently used sparingly until he made two May 2022 starts in end of season play-offs that once again saw Olympiacos lift the league title – during much of the season Konstantinos played for the Olympiacos B team in the Greek second division, making 16 appearances. The 2022/23 season saw Tzolakis again spend most of his time on the first team bench as Olympiacos were defeated in the Greek Cup semi-finals and finished third in the Super League.

The 2023/24 season saw Tzolakis play second fiddle to fellow Greek goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis for much of the Super League campaign, though he was the first choice netminder in Olympiacos’s Europa Conference League campaign that extended all the way to the final. Konstantinos was the hero of the quarter final against Turkish side Fenerbahce, saving three penalties in the shootout that decided the tie, then also played in both semi-final legs that saw English Premier League side Aston Villa defeated. Olympiacos won the trophy in the May 2024 final played in Athens against Italian side Fiorentina, a late winner in extra time selaing the victory with Tzolakis putting in an impressive performance to repel the Italians. Konstantinos had now usurped Paschalakis as first choice goalie and missed only one league match during the 2024/25 season as Olympiacos won the league title for the third time in Tzolakis’s time with the club – he also featured in the club’s Europa League campaign that ended at the Last 16 stage. He retained his first team shirt during the 2025/26 season as Olympiacos finished league runners-up, when Tzolakis left Olympiacos in August 2026 he had made 131 senior appearances for the club in seven seasons.

Tzolakis was part of the Greece international setup from a young age, making two appearances for the Under-16 side in November 2017 against Montenegro and Turkiye. In February 2019 he made the first of 7 appearances for Greece Under-17s against Northern Ireland, the last of which came in May 2019. In October 2020 he debuted for the Greek Under-21 side against Lithuania and served the Under-21s for three and a half years, making the last of his 21 appearances against Andorra in March 2024.

In June 2024 he made his debut for the Greece senior side in a friendly against Malta. In March 2025 he started both legs of the UEFA Nations League play-off that saw Greece defeat Scotland. During the 2025/26 season Konstantinos was a regular starter for Greece, sharing the duties with Sevilla goalie Odysseas Vlachadimos. By June 2026 Tzolakis had won 9 senior caps for his country.

Details

Nationality: Greece
Date/Place of Birth: 8 November 2002, Chania (Greece)
Hull City First Game: 22 August 2026, Manchester United H (Premier League), 23 years, 287 days old
Hull City Final Game: [current player]

Clubs

Olympiacos Piraeus (2018-2026), Olympiacos B (2021-2022), Hull City (2026-current)

Hull City Record

Career: 3 apps, 0 goals