AEK Larnaca and Asteras Tripoli, our Wolverhampton

That the Portuguese flag and Wolverhampton go hand in hand is no longer a surprise to anyone. What can be surprising is discovering that Spain also has several colonies among the highest categories of European football. Leaving aside clubs in Andorra and Gibraltar, where the presence of Spanish footballers is abundant for geographical reasons, AEK Larnaca and Asteras Tripoli, in Cyprus and Greece respectively, stand out as the entities that most rely on talent trained in Spain.

What of AEK Larnaca It is not new. Since the arrival of Jordi Cruyff in his sports management in 2009, the Cypriot team has relied on the Spanish product with the aim of getting to rub shoulders with the almighty APOEL. After Cruyff came Xavi Roca, then Ander Murillo and now it is Arnal Llibert the one in charge of making everything work in the George Karapatakis, the name given to its stadium in honor of the father of its current president, Antreas Karapatakis. “We sign Spaniards to minimize risks,” says the current sports director. This summer Héctor Martínez (Recre Granada), Nando García (Racing), José Naranjo, who repeats his assignment from Tenerife, and Nacho Cases, on loan to the Greek Volos last season, arrived at the club. In total, 12 Spanish footballers are part of the current AEK squad. “The number of Spaniards that there were was one of the reasons that led me to come here,” reveals Acorán Barrera, who assures that, when landing at a new club, “meeting compatriots who have already been in your situation is of much help”. “I wish they would put us all in the same eleven. It would be historic,” completes the canary. It does not seem that this is going to be possible, since the also Spanish Joan Carrillo, coach of the team, reveals that “if you do not play with two Cypriots you have to pay a fine”. The Catalan coach, whose first results at the helm are very positive, believes that meeting a large number of Spanish footballers “reduces the pressure because you know how they think.” “The most important thing is that groups are not formed. We cannot live on the fringes of Cyprus' day-to-day life,” Carrillo completes.

In total, AEK Larnaca has had 38 Spanish footballers along its history. It is the most frequent foreign nationality ahead of Greek and Serbian (16).

“I travel to Spain between 20 and 25 times each year”

The Asteras Tripoli case is different. Among the traditions of the Greek club is also that of signing Spanish footballers (27 throughout its history), this being the most dominant foreign nationality only behind Argentina (45). Its current sports director, however, is Greek. “Spanish football has a very high football training. We are looking for vertical and technical players, which are qualities that characterize Spanish footballers. I travel to Spain between 20 and 25 times a year because, in addition to getting to know them soccer, I also want to discover their character”, discover Nikos Galanakopoulos.

After incorporating Pepe Castaño (Villarreal B) and Rubén García (Levante B) this summer, Asteras Tripoli will have 10 Spanish footballers in their ranks this year. “Sharing costumes with so many Spaniards has helped me to adapt. I can speak in my language every day and that makes things easier,” reveals Castaño, who has already set the goal of learning Greek and English this year. Adrián Riera arrived at Asteras last summer. The Murcian values ​​”very positively” having been able to share his first adventure abroad with so many Spanish footballers. “In every dressing room there are groups. In ours, due to the language issue, it is almost mandatory. The important thing is that we all have a good relationship,” adds Riera, who accepts that local footballers may feel uncomfortable due to the presence of so many players from Spain. “We are here to contribute our grain of sand. We love Greece and its people,” he clarifies.

After five rounds played in the Cypriot First Division, AEK Larnaca occupies the second position in the table with 10 points as a result of three victories, one draw and one defeat. The yellow club started the season with David Caneda on the bench, a position in which Joan Carrillo revealed to him on September 21. The Catalan made his debut with a resounding 0-11 in the Cup and beat AEL Limassol 2-1 in his league debut. Asteras, meanwhile, beat Panathinaikos on the opening day of the Greek Super League and fell 3-0 to Olympiacos on the second date. The former will seek to fight for the league while the latter have set themselves the goal of reaching European positions. None, however, plans to launch a shirt similar to that of the Spanish team. In marketing matters, Wolverhampton seems to be ahead.