Present on the banks of the Meuse since the summer of 2016, the Cypriot international could leave the Rouches during the next summer transfer window.
This Sunday evening (6:30 p.m.), Standard de Liège will host Kortrijk on the 25th day of the championship. Number 16 must secure their position in the top 8. “We simply want to win this game. It will be a similar game to Cercle, but Kortrijk have great attackers. They will definitely favor long balls. Avenatti? C he is a good player who did not know how to find himself here in Liège, but he knows how to keep the ball, has a good finish and is formidable in the air. We will have to be careful, “warned Kostas Laifis at a press conference.
“Fourth place is really close”
Standard’s defense is getting stronger as the weeks go by. “It was our goal and our opponents have very few chances. We are focused from start to finish, and it pays off. The top 4? We still believe in it because we play a good game and because the mentality is good within the group. Fourth place is really close, but we have to be consistent and keep going,” said the central defender.
The club’s new owners are preparing for the future and relying heavily on youth. Noë Dussenne will leave the Rouches at the end of the season. “There’s a new management and it’s normal that they are considering putting a new team in place next season. Some players will stay and others will leave. My future? We haven’t talked about it yet. a possible extension. We will talk about that at the end of this exercise and we will see what is best for Standard and for me”, explains the player under contract until 2024.
“I have been at Standard for seven years”
After the Amallah and Raskin episodes, 777 Partners will no longer let a player enter their final year of contract. It will either be a sale or an extension. “If it’s the best time for me to leave? If a new challenge comes to me and makes me happy, why not?! Regrets for not having left one or even two years ago? Not at all even if I thought about leaving last summer after the disastrous season, the worst of my playing career. I’ve stayed strong and I’ve had a lot of fun on the pitch since the arrival of the new staff. Then it’s been seven years since I I’m at Standard and I’m happy here. It’s the club of my life and I’m considered an important player. It’s true that I still have this dream of playing in a big league. But time flies, and I accept that. I’m older now, even if the defenders retire later than the other players. So staying in Belgium wouldn’t be a failure.”
“My hobbies? I don’t have any or no more. I don’t have time with my two children (8 months and 20 months) in fact. I sleep less, but I’m happy,” the elderly player explains with a smile. 29 years old. “They changed my life and that of my wife,” concludes Laifis.
