Hull City have completed a club-record signing, bringing in Greece international goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis from Olympiacos. The 23-year-old has signed a five-year contract, with the move confirmed on 5 August for a fee reported at around £20m (in the region of €23m with add-ons) — comfortably the largest fee Hull have ever paid for a player. "I am very happy to be here. It is a great honour to join Hull City. I feel ready, I will give everything," Tzolakis said after the move was announced.
The signing solves the biggest problem Hull faced heading into their first Premier League season since 2016-17. The Tigers won promotion by beating Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off final, but were then forced to sell first-choice goalkeeper Ivor Pandur to Rangers for £6m in June to stay within financial fair play limits, after promotion bonuses pushed the club over its spending threshold. Hull moved quickly to bring in the experienced Jack Butland from Rangers as cover, but the size of the Tzolakis deal shows the scale of their ambition for the top flight. Manager Sergej Jakirovic made clear the Greek international will start as his first-choice goalkeeper: "He's our first choice. I had a conversation with him, and everything is fine. I explained to him everything, so he's looking forward to joining us. Of course, he's a national team player of Greece, and when we are speaking about national team players, there is quality. You cannot be in the national team by accident." Owner Acun Ilıcalı is understood to have given Jakirovic a significant summer budget to strengthen the squad, and Tzolakis is the headline addition of that rebuild.
Olympiacos lose a goalkeeper who had become central to their recent success. Tzolakis made 131 appearances for the Greek champions after coming through the club's academy and making his senior debut in 2020, keeping 64 clean sheets and winning four Greek Super League titles, the Greek Cup and the Greek Super Cup. His standout moment came in the 2023-24 Europa Conference League campaign, when he saved three penalties against Fenerbahçe in the quarter-finals before keeping a clean sheet as Olympiacos beat Fiorentina in the final. Olympiacos are already working on his replacement, with reports linking them to Manchester City's Stefan Ortega and Fenerbahçe's Dominik Livakovic.
Tzolakis remained Olympiacos' first-choice goalkeeper right up until this move, making 43 appearances across all competitions last season, including nine in the Champions League. He has also become a regular for his country, winning nine caps for Greece since his international debut against Malta in June 2024.
At 23, Tzolakis arrives with more experience of high-pressure, high-level football — regular Champions League nights and a European final win — than most goalkeepers moving to a newly promoted Premier League club at his age. He is expected to start in goal from Hull's opening game of the season, at home to Manchester United, with the more experienced Butland providing backup and competition for the shirt rather than being first choice himself.
The move caps a busy summer in goal at the MKM Stadium, with Hull having sold, bought and now spent big to settle on their long-term option between the posts before a top-flight campaign that will test them from the very first weekend.