Leesburg, Virginia – Loudoun United FC announced Thursday that the club has signed forward Panayioti “Panos” Armenakas ahead of the 2023 USL Championship season. The signature is pending league and federation approval.
“Panos is a very talented and technical playmaker,” said Loudoun United FC head coach Ryan Martin. “He has had great club experience abroad and international experience with the Australian youth national team. It will be a big help for our team this season.”
Almenakas recently played for Danish First Division club Bendthisl FF. In 2020, Zulte signed with Waregem and in 9 appearances he has scored 2 goals and provided 1 assist. He has played his youth football at the Sydney Olympics, Watford and Udinese. Originally, the forward represented Greece internationally before switching to Australia.
The 24-year-old has represented Greece at under-17 level and played two friendly matches against Turkey in 2014. In 2015, he was named in Australia’s 21st squad for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World He Cup held in Chile. During this time, he was named by The Guardian as one of his 50 greatest young talents in world football.
Armenakas trained at Milan Soccer School in Sydney before training with AC Milan in early 2010. In late 2010, Armenacus signed with Watford’s Youth Academy. Armenakas signed a three-year deal with Udinese after he spent two years at Watford.
The deal with the Italian club made Panoz the youngest Australian to sign a professional contract in Europe’s top five leagues.
In 2015, Armenakas signed a contract extension to remain at Udinese until 2018. The 5-foot-10 forward he appeared in six games.
