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AEK Officially Bring João Mário Back to the Club
🇬🇷 Greece /Sports

AEK Officially Bring João Mário Back to the Club

From Ta Nea · () Greek

Translated from Greek and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Press release Official statement New plan
  • AEK announced the return of Portugal international midfielder João Mário after his contract with Beşiktaş ended.
  • He played 31 matches for AEK last season, scoring six goals and providing three assists during the club’s title-winning campaign.
  • His stoppage-time goal against Panathinaikos in the Stoiximan Super League playoffs secured AEK’s mathematical title victory.

João Mário is back in AEK’s yellow and black, this time as a free agent after ending his association with Beşiktaş. The Greek club officially announced the return of the Portugal international midfielder.

Mário played a key role in AEK’s run to the Greek championship last season. He appeared in 31 matches across all competitions, scoring six goals and supplying three assists.

One moment stands above the rest in AEK’s memories of his previous spell: his goal against Panathinaikos in the Stoiximan Super League playoffs. The strike came in stoppage time of a 2-1 victory on May 10 and mathematically secured AEK’s title.

AEK’s announcement also highlighted Mário’s wider career. He came through Sporting’s academy, played for Inter from 2016 to 2019, and had loan spells with West Ham and Lokomotiv Moscow. He later returned to Sporting and helped the club win its first Portuguese league title since 2002.

From 2021 to 2024, he played for Benfica, winning the Portuguese league and Super Cup in 2022-23 and earning a place in the Primeira Liga team of the season. Benfica also drew 3-3 with Inter in the 2022-23 Champions League group stage after Mário scored a first-half hat-trick. He joined Beşiktaş in 2024, made 45 official appearances and scored 10 goals, then returned to AEK after the Turkish club released him.

About this summary

Originally published by Ta Nea in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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