Hull City’s self-confessed maths geek could have been a high jump star but is now crunching the numbers to seal safety

SELF-CONFESSED maths geek Konstantinos Tzolakis has already crunched the numbers to work out Hull’s survival plan. And the Greek goalkeeper, 23, could be halfway to completing his part in that mission if he shuts out Newcastle. Hull City’s Konstantinos Tzolakis has crunched the numbers to work out what’s needed to survive Credit: Getty The Greek star has had nearly every angle covered for the Tigers Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Tzolakis swapped a shot at the Champions League with Olympiakos to join the ambitious Tigers’ in a £20m move this summer and has made a stunning start. The star has a passion for mathematics and economics and holds a degree in Business Administration after successfully balancing lectures and exams alongside playing for the Greek giants. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! And Tzolakis, who has three clean sheets in four games, has calculated he will be halfway there to ensuring Hull’s top-flight status if he keeps out the Mags. He said: “If you make seven or eight clean sheets you stay in the league. We put this target in our team. If we achieve this, probably we will stay in the league, so it’s the main target.” Tzolakis’ passion for maths also helps him in other ways on the pitch – especially with angles. And the bright spark already seems to have everything added up for once he stops playing. He explained: “You have to be smart and intelligent when you play football, and especially when a keeper, it’s very important. It’s not necessary to dive too high or too long, but when you have a nice position, everything is more easy, you know? “For example, against Coventry, I saved a ball near to the crossbar. So, if my position was more left, it would be very hard to save the ball. But when I saw the ball and I said to myself ‘In two seconds you have to go more right.’ Everything is maths. Most read in Sport CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS “Also, when I retire from football, you have some money and you have to know what you can do with this money to invest a little bit. After 36, 37, finally you go out of this comfort zone. You don’t have anything to pay you every month, for example, so you have to know what you will do with your life, because you have like 45 years.” Tzolakis grew up in a sporting household. While his dad was a physio, his mother worked as a gym coach and athletics trainer. The Hull ace was even a promising high jumper in his teens. Though he turned his back on that and took a leap of faith into the beautiful game when he got the chance to turn pro. He said: “When I was young, I made both the high jump and football. But when called me from Olympiacos to join, I said, ‘Okay, probably I have to stop doing high jump and go direct to Olympiacos.’ “But I also think it helped me to improve some skills because, you know, in high jump you have a lot of jumps, so it’s good for the keepers.” The keeper earned a degree in Business Administration while coming through at Olympiacos Credit: Getty Tzolakis could have pursued a career in athletics and was a teenage high jump star Credit: Getty Tzolakis, a Uefa Conference League winner in 2025, admits fighting for safety with Hull is a “totally different” type of pressure to having to win every game at his former club. While staying up is the priority, he is taking inspiration from Sunderland’s heroics last term, and he is already doing the sums to work out a potential push for Europe of Hull’s own. He added: “When you play in Olympiacos, you have pressure to win every game and your target is to take the championship. Here, our target is to stay in the league. “If we take one point when we play against Chelsea, it’s very good for us. If we take three, it’s amazing, but you are not happy with one point when you’re at Olympiacos. “The pressure here is totally different. They are happy, our fans, when we have eight points after four games, so it’s fine. The Greek stopper has already worked out how many clean sheets he needs Credit: Getty He could only need two more if he shuts out Newcastle and then Everton Credit: Getty “Sunderland were promoted last year and they played very good football. Also, their keeper [Robin Roefs] was brilliant. This year, they played European competitions. “Okay, for us, if next year we play in European competition, it’s something crazy! No one expects it. Before the start of the season, no one expected us to stay in the league. “But after four games we started with eight points and we played very well. Why not? It will be perfect for us. But staying in the league is the main target. If we achieve more, okay.” Meanwhile, his new manager Sergej Jakirovic is delighted with his summer signing’s impact. He said: “His adaptation to English football is excellent, it’s very, very quick. We knew that he had great potential, a very good goalkeeper, number one Greek national team player, and also the team help him a lot. “He also helped the team because he saved a lot of dangerous shots, and I’m very happy.” Comment now