# Nikolas Ioannou

Nikolas Ioannou (Greek: Νικόλας Ιωάννου; born 10 November 1995) is a Cypriot professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Serie B club Sampdoria, on loan from Serie A club Como, and the Cyprus national team.

## Club career
### Youth career

Ioannou joined the Manchester United youth academy at the age of 11. He played at the Marveld Tournament with the under-15 team in June 2010 held in the Netherlands. This was followed by his participation in the Manchester United Premier Cup. His form earned him a two-year scholarship in June 2012. But it is also reported that Manchester United was reluctant to give him a full-time contract. He made his debut at Old Trafford against Charlton Athletic in the FA Youth Cup, aged 16. While playing in the Milk Cup, he was injured which kept him out of action for most of the 2012–13 season. In his last match for the reserves, he captained the team against Tottenham Hotspur. He also appeared in three 2013–14 UEFA Youth League group stage matches with the under-19 team.

### APOEL

After being released by United, he signed a three-year contract with APOEL on 24 April 2014. On joining the club, Ioannou commented: "My main aim is to win trophies of course, but obviously I need to start playing. APOEL play in big competitions – Champions League and Europa League – so hopefully I can get a few games."
He made his official debut against Finnish club HJK on 30 July 2014, in APOEL's 2–2 away draw for the third qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League. On 5 November 2014, aged 18, he made his first UEFA Champions League group stage appearance, playing the full 90 minutes in APOEL's 0–1 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes. In his first season at APOEL, Ioannou appeared only in seven matches in all competitions, but he managed to win the double, as his team won both the Cypriot championship and the cup.
On 3 June 2016, Ioannou signed a three-year contract extension until 31 May 2019, but a few months later, on 13 March 2017, he signed a further two-year contract extension with APOEL, running until 31 May 2021. Following his successful 2016–17 season with APOEL, Ioannou was awarded the "Young Player of the season" award by the Cypriot Football Association.

### Nottingham Forest

On 25 September 2020, Ioannou returned to England, joining EFL Championship side Nottingham Forest for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for Forest on 3 October 2020 in a 2–1 defeat to Bristol City.
On 8 January 2021, Ioannou was loaned to Greek Super League side Aris until the end of the season.
On 5 July 2021, it was announced Ioannou had joined Serie B side Como on a season-long loan deal.

### Como

On 27 July 2022, Ioannou later joined Como on a permanent deal, signing a three-year contract until June 2025.

## International career

Being an English-Cypriot, Ioannou is eligible to represent the national teams of both the countries. In 2012, he had been capped by Cyprus U19. He made his Cyprus U21 debut on 5 September 2014, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute in a UEFA European U-21 Championship qualifying match against Belgium.
He received his first senior Cyprus national team call-up at the age of 18, being an unused substitute for Cyprus in the friendly match against Japan on 27 May 2014. He made his debut for Cyprus in 2017.

## Personal life

Ioannou's father Demetris Ioannou is a former Cypriot international captain. His elder brother is Michael Ioannou, who is a Cypriot youth international. He attended St George's RC High School in Walkden, Greater Manchester, during his time at the Manchester United academy.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 29 December 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | Europe | Europe | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| APOEL | 2014–15 | Cypriot First Division | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| APOEL | 2015–16 | Cypriot First Division | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| APOEL | 2016–17 | Cypriot First Division | 17 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| APOEL | 2017–18 | Cypriot First Division | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| APOEL | 2018–19 | Cypriot First Division | 25 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 4 |
| APOEL | 2019–20 | Cypriot First Division | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| APOEL | 2020–21 | Cypriot First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| APOEL | Total | Total | 81 | 5 | 20 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 115 | 5 |
| Nottingham Forest | 2020–21 | Championship | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 |
| Nottingham Forest | 2021–22 | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| Nottingham Forest | Total | Total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 |
| Aris | 2020–21 | Super League Greece | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 10 | 1 |
| Como (loan) | 2021–22 | Serie B | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 31 | 1 |
| Como | 2022–23 | Serie B | 32 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 33 | 3 |
| Como | 2023–24 | Serie B | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 26 | 3 |
| Como | Total | Total | 57 | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 59 | 6 |
| Sampdoria (loan) | 2024–25 | Serie B | 17 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 20 | 3 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 199 | 15 | 27 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 240 | 16 |
* ↑ Includes Cypriot Cup, Greek Football Cup, Coppa Italia
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
* ↑ Appearance in Cypriot Super Cup

### International

    As of 19 November 2019
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Cyprus | 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| Cyprus | 2018 | 7 | 0 |
| Cyprus | 2019 | 10 | 2 |
| Total | Total | 18 | 2 |
    Scores and results list Cyprus goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ioannou goal.
List of international goals scored by Nikolas Ioannou :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 10 October 2019 | Astana Arena, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan | Kazakhstan | 2–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
| 2 | 19 November 2019 | King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium | Belgium | 1–0 | 1–6 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |

## Honours

APOEL
* Cypriot First Division: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
* Cypriot Cup: 2014–15
Individual
* Young player of the Season (Cyprus): 2016–17