Jack Panayotou Now Healthy After Dealing with Mononucleosis
Bruce Arena: “Jack’s a good player. He’ll be back in with us in a short time.”
Jack Panayotou missed a week-and-a-half of training because of mononucleosis. He’s now healthy and looking to earn minutes with the New England Revolution.
Panayotou had a stellar preseason, regularly playing alongside starters like Carles Gil, Latif Blessing, and Matt Polster. Unfortunately, he got ill before the regular season opener against Charlotte FC.
“Jack, believe it or not, had mononucleosis, and came back I think about 10 days ago back into training, so he’s getting his strength back a little bit,” head coach Bruce Arena said on Thursday. “That week that he missed, week-and-a-half, set him back a little bit, but Jack’s a good player. He’ll be back in with us in a short time.”
Panatoyou signed a Homegrown contract after collecting seven goals and three assists in his one season at Georgetown University. The 18-year-old was a long-time member of the Academy and featured for Revs II last year.
Teammate Bobby Wood recognized the bad timing of Panayotou’s illness, but also believes that he will have his time to shine.
“It’s good to have him back,” Wood said of Panayotou. “It sucks, the timing of when he got sick, but he just has to grind, work his way back up, and he’ll be fine. He’s a great player.”
The Revs currently have a number of Academy graduates who are contributing to the first team. Noel Buck is a regular starter while Justin Rennicks has come off the bench in all four games. Damian Rivera has one start and one sub appearance this season.
Wood has been impressed by what he’s seen from all of the youngsters.
“I think Jack and all the other young players have been amazing this preseason,” Wood explained. “I really think they showed what they have mentally and skillfully with their skills and their IQ at such a young age.”