Northcote City have snapped up stars and former teammates James Papadimitriou and Danny Charalambous from Moreland Zebras and Bentleigh Greens respectively.
Charalambous and Papadimitriou will partner up again as they look to be as dangerous as they were in the 2015 season, where the Zebras fell agonisingly short of promotion.
That season Papadimitriou led the West charts on 18 goals, closely followed by Charalambous on 14 – combining for 32 goals in total.
Charalambous crosses over from the Bentleigh Greens, and says it was a difficult decision to leave the current champions despite signing for the club only eight months ago.
“It was quite a difficult decision, I leave the club learning a lot in only a short time at the club,” he said.
The forward was unable to find first team minutes under John Anastasiadas despite making some impressive U20 performances, as well as playing a role when coming off the bench for the NPL champions.
He was approached by Northcote and viewed the opportunity to work under the watchful eye of Goran Lozanovski too hard to turn down.
“It was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. Due to a lack of playing time at Bentleigh it was a major influence on my move to Northcote,” he said.
“Loza’s challenge that he had for me was one I was willing to accept with no hesitation.”
Charalambous is set to deal with the current predicament Northcote are in at the moment and prevent the team from dropping to the second tier of football in Victoria.
“Northcote is a club that doesn’t deserve to be in the position they are at the moment,” he said.
Along with being able to work with former Zebras mentor Alex Cobo at Northcote, Charalambous has also linked up with former team mate James Papadimitriou. The pair commented on being able to partner up once again.
“Papa’s signing was a massive boost for myself. We had an exceptional season last year together at Moreland Zebras, bagging goals and assists, and I look forward to doing it again with him at Northcote City for the rest of the 2016 season,” Charalambous said.
Papadimitriou added: “Danny and I obviously work well together after having had such an amazing season together at the Zebras, so it felt great to know that Northcote also signed him.”
Papadimtriou crosses over from NPL2 title contenders Moreland Zebras, who are currently sitting second in the league – very much in the mix to achieve their long awaited goal of promotion.
Papadimitriou was stoked to be a part of the Northcote side despite a handful of other offers from top tier clubs.
“It’s great to be acknowledged by teams in the division above. I think it’ll be a test because of where the club currently sits, but it’s a challenge that I’m up for,” he said.
Papadimitriou stated his departure from the Zebras wasn’t easy due to him being at the club for many years now.
“They’ve done everything right by me from the committee to coaches and playing group, however I think it’s a step in the right direction for me and I know I’m in good hands with Goran at Northcote”.
It is believed that both Charalambous and Papadimitriou will be avaliable for selection in this week’s game against Melbourne Knights at John Cain Memorial Park, commencing at 3pm.