Kostas Manolas announcement video: Defender terrified by lion | OneFootball

Kostas Manolas has followed his former Roma teammate Miralem Pjanic to the UAE where he has signed for the same team as him, Sharjah FC.

The 31 year-old made the switch to the middle east from his home nation club, Olympiakos, with the Emirati side proving to be a much more attractive offer for the defender.

His deal could see him playing for the club for at least three years, with a two-year contract and an option to extend that for a third year.

Kostas Manolas leaves Olympiakos

He rejoined his boyhood club in January, but has already looked to pastures new, opting for a new challenge in the UAE.

Manolas is Sharjah’s third high profile summer signing, with Pjanic there already along with Paco Alcacer, giving them two former Barca boys as options for this season.

They’ve splashed some serious cash to attract these players and will be hoping that translates to on the pitch performances.

Kostas Manolas announcement video

As with every new signing in the modern era, clubs like to show off their new acquisition with a video that gets fans excited, with Sharjah not holding back any expenses with their unveiling of the new Greek man at the back.

They used a real lion next to the defender, just inches away from him, with behind-the-scenes footage showing us a glimpse of what was being produced.

Hilariously, Manolas was seen to be running for safety after the lion let out a little growl, with the fight or flight response kicking in, he clearly was uncomfortable with the situation, being that close to such a dangerous animal.

Video: Kostas Manolas behind-the-scenes of the announcement video

It’s only a short clip, but it’s still more than long enough to capture the fear from the defender as he runs to the security tape put there.

His new teammates will surely give him some stick for that one, but you wouldn’t be surprised if they would have reacted in the same manner should they be subjected to that sort of announcement video for the club’s social media channels.

We’ve seen some whacky, funny, impressive and downright poor announcement videos in the past, where this one ranks is still to be seen, but the reaction from Manolas here is absolute gold, props to the person who captured the footage from an angle where you can clearly see the fear with Manolas running to safety.