Ninis began his career in 2004 as a youngster in Panathinaikos’ football academies, joining from great academy of Apollon Smyrnis. During these 2 years, he became an integral part of the Panathinaikos Youth Squad and his coaches believe him to be the next promising talent of Greek football. As a result, on December 22, 2006, the club directors offered him a 5 year contract and just 2 weeks after that day, on January 7, 2007, Panathinaikos coach Víctor Muñoz selected him in the main squad for the match against Egaleo at the Olympic Stadium. His outstanding performance earned him the title of the Superleague Matchday MVP and he immediately became the hottest name in every Greek football quarter. He became the second youngest player ever to wear the club’s shirt in a league match, at the age of sixteen (the first was Kostas Antoniou -15 years old- in 1978). In February 2007, he officially rejected a call to play for the Albanian Under-21 national team. On February 18, Ninis lead Panathinaikos in a 14 win over rivals AEK Athens in the Olympic Stadium. Ninis scored one goal and assisted two others. On July 6, Ninis signed a professional contract with Panathinaikos. The 2008/2009 season began well for Ninis. New manager Henk ten Cate showed faith in Ninis by featuring him regularly in Panathinaikos’ pre-season training. He repaid this faith through his performances against teams such as R. Charleroi SC Having entered the pitch at half-time, Ninis assisted three goals and scored …
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