A few days before the youngster’s departure, burglars broke into the home of Deligiannidis’ family and left nothing. Young Panagiotis considered it a bad omen ahead of the new chapter in his life and decided to stay at Thessaloniki. “I didn’t want to leave my family”, he says.
His decision proved a good one. Instead of Austria, he landed at PAOK, after winning the league with Bebides and becoming a regular for Thessaloniki Mixed Team and Greece U19s. The “Double-Headed Eagle” people appreciated the young attacking midfielder’s talent and promoted him early to the senior team in order to train with the big guys. He participated in preseason friendlies, scored and inaugurated his senior-team distance calculator and then returned to the youth squads. He landed league titles with the U17s and U20s and went on to become skipper in the Greek squad.
Football had become a part of his life as a child’s whim. His father wanted to register him for tennis lessons, but he didn’t like the idea and, in order to vex him, he told him he wanted to become a footballer. As every father would do, Deligiannidis senior surrendered to his son’s wish. Football was no longer a whim for Panagiotis, but his way of life.

During the past season, Deligiannidis got transformed. Vladan Ivić detected that his power and energy on the pitch could be channeled in defence, therefore he moved him from right winger to right full-back, providing him with the necessary space to charge forward and provide numerical superiority in attack. The experiment was successful and Deligiannidis is now a very effective right full-back.

Last summer it was time for promotion. Along with his pals Pozoglou, Koulouris and Savvidis, Deligiannidis joined the senior team and signed a brand new professional contract.

His first season with the senior didn’t go exactly as he wished. He missed preseason training due to nose diaphragm surgery. He was left behind and, when he picked up training pace in order to cover for lost ground, his body reacted. He suffered three muscular injuries in the same spot and was sidelined for three months.

He worked extensively for his comeback and searched for his first opportunity through trainings. He got his chance at Nea Smyrni, looking forward to his participation but without stress. He got anxious however after the game, wondering how he fared. He wanted to hear the comments of his coach and rest of technical staff.

Panagiotis Deligiannidis can now safely erase from his mental list the first of his objectives –a senior team debut. He can continue his effort to establish himself by listening to Dimitris Salpingidis’ advice, who took him under his wing from day one, helping and giving him pointers. Deligiannidis and the rest of PAOK’s golden new generation have the future all to themselves. And beware, there is a younger Deligiannidis also on the way. His 12-year old brother is considered a great talent.