Olympiacos ace Stevan Jovetic insists the club's Under-19s' biggest starlets need to join Jose Luis Mendilibar's senior side next season.
Jovetic helped the Red and White make history on Wednesday by becoming the first ever Greek club to win a European title after a 1-0 triumph over Fiorentina at OPAP Arena.
But it was the Piraeus outfit's U19s who paved the way in April when they won the UEFA Youth League, which marked the first ever European trophy ever won by any Greek team on club level.
Sotiris Silaidopoulos' wonderkids destroyed AC Milan in the final with a score of 3-0 after besting Lecce, Gabala, Inter Milan, Lens, Bayern Munich and Nantes en route to the final in Nyon.
Mendilibar's seniors followed suit at rivals AEK's own ground in Nea Filadelfia thanks to Ayoub El Kaabi's historic winner four minutes before the end of extra time.
And Jovetic insists those two European champions need to become one come pre-season after the youth stars won the ex-Manchester City star over during several training sessions.
The striker is adamant every team needs a "mix" of youth and experience to reach greater heights for years to come.
Jovetic told Gate 7 International: "I think that you always need a mix for success.
"So we need experienced players [and] we need young players. That's for sure. And they have shown they can be useful.
"They train with us a lot and especially now that they've won [a European title] I think for sure they have to be with us to train with us. They deserve it."
The likes of Babis Kostoulas, Antonis Papakanellos, Christos Mouzakitis and Isidoros Koutsidis made a strong claim for a senior call-up during the tournament.
Fans have been calling for the introduction of young Greek players ever since Olympiacos formed their B team in 2021.
Jovetic, though, is not certain to be joining a potential merger between the two teams this summer as his contract runs out on June 30 and his future has yet to be confirmed.
Comments