Former Cyprus youth striker Mike Thalassitis has been told he still has a future with Margate despite re-entering the Love Island villa.
Thalassitis played for the Bostik League side last season and their manager Steven Watt said he was “disappointed” when the 24-year-old joined the ITV2 show last month without telling him.
Thalassitis was dumped from the Love Island villa last month but has since been voted back into the show, meaning he is likely to miss a large part of Margate’s pre-season.
But in a statement on the club’s website, chairman Alistair Bayliss said: “Striker Michael Thalassitis is still very much part of the plans at Hartsdown Park and everyone at the club is supporting him as he returns to the reality TV show Love Island.”
Given the nickname ‘Muggy Mike’ on the show, Thalassitis has played for a number of non-league clubs including Boreham Wood, Ebbsfleet, Hemel Hempstead and Welling United.
He made four appearances for Cyprus’ under-21s in 2013, scoring two goals.
Thalassitis is not the only sportsman on the show. British Athletics was last week taken by surprise when sprinter Theo Campbell joined the villa.
The 25-year-old appeared two days after reaching the 400 metres final at the British Athletics World Championships Team Trials.
Campbell also competed for the British Athletics men’s 4x400m relay team at the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas earlier this year.
He finished seventh in the 400m in Birmingham and is on the fringes of the British squad, but is unlikely to feature as part of the relay squad in next month’s World Championships in London.
Love Island is a show which takes single participants to a villa in Majorca and they try to pair off to win £50,000.
