Young star Sotiris Ninis sees salary rise sixfold with new contract

Deal with PAO has eight-digit buyout clause

After signing his contract, Ninis (r) played in last night’s friendly against Athinaikos.

The brightest of Greek soccer’s new stars, Sotiris Ninis, yesterday signed his new contract with Panathinaikos, which is to last until 2012.

Ninis effectively had the terms of his existing four-year contract adjusted. He will now earn more than six times as much as before (250,000 euros a year plus bonuses, instead of 40,000 euros).

There is also a new buyout clause that has been inserted, suggesting that any foreign club that wishes to acquire him would have to pay Panathinaikos 10 million euros, while any Greek club would have to pay 15 million euros.

“This gives me great satisfaction. I promise to do everything possible to take the team higher and help it reach its targets in Greece and in Europe,” said a happy Ninis after signing.

The deal puts an end to the rumors circulating over the past 10 days about a disagreement on the player’s side regarding the high buyout clause; this was used to explain his sidelining over the past couple of weeks by coach Henk ten Cate.

“I had spoken with Panathinaikos earlier about it too, but we still had certain details to iron out,” said Ninis.

Ninis featured in the friendly game that the reserves of Panathinaikos played yesterday in Vyronas, eastern Athens, against local side Athinaikos. PAO won 6-0.

This is the last match for the Greens before the Champions League tie with Anorthosis in Cyprus next Wednesday, as the league match with Ergotelis at the Olympic Stadium has been postponed due to the Madonna concert at the same venue on Saturday.