Article by Maria Olteanu – published Wednesday, June 4, 2025, 20:55 / Updated Wednesday, June 4, 2025 20:55
Elias Charalambous (44 years old), the coach of FCSB, is desired in Poland, at the Warsaw Legia, according to information from the press abroad.
He was very close to signing the extension of the contract with the Romanian champion team, but the interest of the Poles could change the data of the problem. The negotiations are in progress, and the Cypriot is not the only one on the list of Poles. Alexei Spilevski is also in the viewfinder of Legia and remains to be seen what Polish officials will decide in the next period.
Elias Charalambous is the coach of FCSB from March 2023 and has a contract until June 30. Polish journalists claim that coach Cypriot does not intend to extend with the red-blue group.
Elias Charalambous, in negotiations with Legia Warsaw
“The Legia is in front of an extremely important task, namely the choice of a new coach. In the media, the most common is the candidacy of Aleksei Szpilewski, but … according to the information obtained by Goal.pl, there is another candidate.
Just a few days ago, it seemed that there would be no change in the Legian technical bench. Goncalo Feio had the support of Michal Zewlakow, the new/old sports director, but eventually he went too far and the officer Legia lost his patience.
The Portuguese lost the chance to extend their contract, and the officials began to look for a replacement. For a while, it was quiet in the media on this topic, but the name of Aleksei Szpilewski appeared.
According to the information obtained by Goal.pl, there is another candidate. This is a Cypriot with Citizenship … South African. To go to concrete, this is Elias Charalambous, almost 45 years old. Recently, this coach worked at the FCSB club, with which he achieved excellent results.
Specifically: he led the team twice to the title of champion of Romania. And the winning of the national title is exactly what the leadership of the Legs wants most at this time. Charalambous started his football career in Omonia Nicosia. Then he arrived in Greece, at Paok Thessaloniki, he returned to Cyprus, after which he went to Germany to play at Karlsruher. Its next club was Vaslui, from Romania, and the football career ended it at AEK Larnaca.
The career as a coach in his native country began, but the first important chance came to Romania. In March 2023 he became the FCSB coach, which turned out to be an excellent choice on both sides. Even in the first season he won the championship and the Romanian Cup. It was the first title of the club after a break for nine years. For these achievements, he was honored as the coach of the year in Romania ”wrote the journalists from Goal.pl.
Elias Charalambous/ Photo: Cristi Preda (GSP)
In total, Charalambous led the team from Bucharest to 120 matches, taking into account the Romanian championship and all the other competitions. His contract with this club expires on June 30 but, according to our information, the coach does not intend to extend it. In the last season, he has evolved with FCSB and in the UEFA Europa League, after being eliminated in the third preliminary round of the Sparta Prague Champions League.
To conclude the profile of Cypriot, it is worth mentioning his record as a footballer, because in this regard he can praise with successes. Three times he has won the title of champion of Cyprus with Omonia Nicosia, three times he raised the Cipului Cup and added a Cyprus Super Cup.
Finishing the chapter on his coach's career, it is worth noting that at FCSB he had, so to speak, an impulsive chief – because the boss of the club is the influence of Gigi Becali, a strong figure in Romania. From this point of view, in Warsaw it would certainly be a quieter atmosphere for him.
– Poland press about the interest in Charalambous
Legia Warsaw finished last season in 5th place, with 54 points, 16 distance from Lech Poznan champion.
Is the problem of charalambous? It will remain. Don't leave. He said that if he has a offer, he does what I say. He said he listens. Remain. He took a lot of money this year. I think he took 300,000 qualification premium. He took about 600,000 this year. It started with 5,000 per month, then 10,000, then 15,000, with qualification premium. He didn't even have claims, he said he signs without reading
– Gigi Becali, about Elias Charalambous, at Digi Sport
