"I have said many times that over the past two years our team was fighting for the championship. I came to give my contribution." This is how the former Panathinaikos player Dimitris Salpingidis commented on his transfer to PAOK Salonika, which brought negative comments from many fans. This didn’t 'touched' the national striker who stated in the Greek media: "I am not complaining, and as I have said before I will respect such reactions if they arise.." Furthermore, he stressed that he is sure he took the right decision and is ready to give his best to help PAOK win the championship.

Salpingidis joined PAOK in 1999. He stayed with the team until 2006, except for the 1999-2000 and 2000-2002 periods when he played for Larissa and Kavala respectively.

In 2006 “Salpi” shocked the Greek football world when signing with the greens. The four-year contract brought PAOK €1.5m and €800 000 per year for Salpi. The amount was a record for a local transfer in Greece, but the player held a strong position with 100 games at the Thessaloniki stadium as the scorer of the team.

Salpi remained just as successful with Panathinaikos as well. During his four years with the greens he played in 112 games, scoring 56 times. In 2008 he became captain of the team. His best year however is 2010 with Panathinaikos winning the double and Scalpi scoring the first goal for the Greek national team in the game with Nigeria in South Africa at the World Cup Championship. The 29 years old player was enthusiastic over contributing in such a historical moment. After "meeting" his obligations at national and world level, Salpi’s dream is to help his old team win the championship. Despite comments that bypassing all other offers in order to join PASOK was reckless, the player is excited about his transfer.