Panagiotis Kone

AEK Athens

On 29 July 2005, Kone returned to Greece to join AEK Athens, signing his first professional contract. However since he played for the youth team of Olympiacos, the latter claimed the player in order not to sign with AEK, based on a law regarding amateur footballers who play abroad. On 21 December, after six months of litigation, AEK were vindicated and the HFF validated the player's sports card. In his first two seasons, he wore the number 10 shirt, but with the arrival of former Ballon d'Or winner Rivaldo to the club, he changed it to 22.

Iraklis

On 29 August 2008, after his contract with AEK was terminated, Kone moved to Iraklis. In his two seasons with the club, he made 49 league appearances and scored eight goals; in 37 of these matches, he either played as a substitute or he was substituted. Although in times he showed football brilliance, the facts that he was rather unstable and the lack of teamwork could not secure him a firm place in Iraklis' starting eleven.

Contract dispute with Iraklis

In July 2010, Kone trained with Italian side Brescia despite still being under contract with Iraklis. After this became known to Brescia, Kone no longer trained with the club. He requested and expected to have his contract with Iraklis terminated due to supposed debt by the club to him, but on 22 July 2010, the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) decided against the request. Nonetheless, Iraklis sold him to Brescia for a €800,000 transfer…

Kone has represented Greece at the youth level. Shortly after signing for Brescia, new Greece coach Fernando Santos called him up for UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches against Georgia and Croatia. On 17 November 2010, Kone debuted for the senior national team in a 1–2 friendly away win over Austria. He played the entire first half before being replaced. Kone was named in the provisional squad for UEFA Euro 2012. On 26 May 2012, he was sent-off during Greece's 1–1 draw with Slovenia in a pre-tournament friendly. "What happened with Kone is a shame. Sometimes in the heat of the match we lose our minds," Santos explained after the draw. Kone was eventually excluded from Greece's final 23-man squad. Two years later, Kone's exceptional season year with Bologna helped convince Santos to include the player in both the 30-man provisional World Cup squad and final 23-man squad for the 2014 World Cup. On 7 June 2014, he scored his first goal with the Greece in a 2–1 friendly victory against Bolivia. On 15 June 2015, Kone, as a Greek player, sparked controversy after a photograph surfaced showed him just one day after Greece's humiliating 1–2 defeat to the Faroe Islands making an Albanian gesture, putting him under scrutiny. On 11 October 2015, Kone scored in a dramatic 4–3 win over Hungary for UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, meeting a José Holebas cross to net a powerful header. It was the first and only win for Greece in qualifying, where it finished last in Group F, meaning it will miss…

International

Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kone goal.

He was born as Gjergji Kone in Tirana, Albania, and migrated to Greece with his parents Isaac, a biologist, and Leontina, a piano teacher, and older brother to Athens when he was two years old. He changed his name to Panagiotis as part of the naturalisation process. He has said, regarding his identity and ethnicity, that he is a Greek. Some of his relatives still live in Albania and whenever he visits the country, he presents himself as “Kone the Albanian” in order to prevent discrimination. His brother, Sotiris, owns a bar in Athens. According to Albanian and Italian press he is of Albanian origin, while he has stated that his family is ethnically Greek despite coming from Albania. Kone began his youth career at the Olympiacos youth academy as a young teenager, but moved to France just before his 17th birthday when Lens showed interest in him. He was sold to Lens for €400,000.