The player who came to Liverpool as an unknown and is already better than Smicer and Pennant

The signing of Konstantinos Tsimikas (Thessaloniki, 12-5-1996) by Liverpool in 2020 caught more than a few people off guard. The '3' was coming off the back of 86 appearances and 12 assists for Olympiacos, for whom he made his debut in 2015 - he was 19 years and seven months old - under Marco Silva. Along the way, however, he completed two bizarre loan spells at Esbjerg (2016-17) and Willem II (2017-18).

The Greek full-back, overshadowed by the form of Andy Robertson, did not get off to a good start at Anfield. "I was very unlucky. I picked up COVID-19 and suffered two injuries," admits Tsimikas, who played just seven games in his first season (225'). I was very unlucky. In my first season I took COVID-19 and suffered two injuries. In his second year he managed to get more minutes as a replacement for 'Robbo'. He played 26 games (1,712') and handed out six assists. His turning point came at the end of the season. Tsimikas became a 'cult hero' after scoring the penalty that allowed the Reds to beat Chelsea in the final and recapture the FA Cup 14 years later.

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This season, although he has kept his role as a substitute, he has really come into his own. The Greece international is the 'Reds' top assist man: he has accumulated five assists in the 12 games (609') he has played so far. Only Kevin de Bruyne (11) has shared more assists among Premiership players. What's more, Michael Reid of 'Opta' provides a telling statistic: Tsimikas is the Liverpool player with the highest assists per minute ratio among those who have provided at least 10 assists for the Reds since 1992. The former Olympiacos man (232') surpasses Pennant (286'), Smicer (323')...

"Now I feel more important. I'm in a good moment," said Tsimikas, who assisted Darwin Nunez in the 1-0 win over West Ham. "I'm happy for Darwin. We work every day in training to improve our crossing and finishing," he said. Jürgen Klopp also acknowledges Tsikimas' growth over the last year: "He needed time to adapt, but he has done that. Kostas has a lot of quality and that increases the competition. Robertson is, in my opinion, the best left-back in the world, but it's good that we have quality options.

<strong>Tsimikas the one with the most assists at Liverpool</strong>

"We have a very healthy competition. Andy and I work to make them better," notes Tsimikas, who has earned the nickname 'Greek Scouser'. "I'm not the 'Greek Scouser', I'm a 'Scouser' who is Greek," jokes Tsimikas who has earned the affection of fans, team-mates and former players. "Honouring the pride of the number 21," tweeted Lucas Leiva after he scored the decisive penalty against Chelsea in the FA Cup. Pool have a new 'weapon of mass destruction'.