Panathinaikos FC announces the signing of the Spanish offensive midfielder Aitor Cantalapiedra. The 24 year old player has signed a 3 year contract.
Aitor was born in Barcelona, Spain on the 10th of February 1996. From an early age he joined FC Barcelona’s academies and later, as an adolescent, he moved to RCD Espanyol. He left the latter to go back to FC Barcelona were he became a professional player joining Barcelona B team, in 2015. He played with FC Barcelona’s first team in a match for the King’s Cup on the 2nd of December 2015 against Villanovense.
In January 2016 he moved to Villarreal where he played mainly for the second team. In 2017 he moved to Seville to play for the club’s second team, as well. At the age of 22 he preferred to leave Spain, after accepting the proposal of the Dutch team of Twente, where he did two great seasons. In the first one he was the best player (scoring 13 times) and led the team to ascend to Eredivisie, the highest echelon of the Dutch championship. In the second season he was again one of the outstanding players, having scored 7 times in 21 matches.
«Panathinaikos is an important challenge for my career! This is a big Club with a very important history, well known all over Europe. I was comfortable in Twente but now I want to compete for the European Competitions with Panathinaikos and I can achieve it. When I learned about Panathinaikos’ proposal I started gathering information. I called Carlitos with whom we were teammates in Villareal and asked him about almost everything. He told me that everything is ok in the club and the team is a compact and a good one. I got all the details I needed. The decisive point was when I realized how much Xavi Roca wanted me to play for Panathinaikos. He made me feel that I am going to be an important part of the project. The main position I am playing is the one of right winger but I can also play as a second striker. I can also play in the left side and like entering the opponent’s space, dribble and shoot!”
