Friday Frappé: Olympiacos set for Podence pay day but at what cost?
In this week’s edition of the Friday Frappé, AGONAsport’s Peter Katsiris takes a look at how the imminent sale of Daniel Podence is eerily similar to the Olympiacos’ decision to sell Kostas Mitroglou in 2014…
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If the latest transfer buzz surrounding Olympiacos is to be believed then it appears that Daniel Podence is destined to make a dream move to the English Premier League this January.
Reports indicate that Wolverhampton Wanderers are ready to offer up as much as €25m for Podence, with Olympiacos reportedly having agreed to terms with the transfer.
Podence, who joined Olympiacos from Sporting Lisbon at a cost of €7m, has been one of the Erythrolefki’s most impressive players over the past 18 months. His displays for Olympiacos in the UEFA Champions League group stage certainly made his name known to clubs like Wolves, particularly after his goal against Tottenham on Matchday one.
It’s not only in Europe, however, that Podence has had an impact as the Portuguese winger has been a key figure in an Olympiacos side that is hoping to end a two-year title drought in the Super League.
While the transfer fee appears to be too good for Olympiacos to refuse, the cost of selling Podence in January could come with the cost of further success for the club this season.
There’s no doubting that Podence would be relied on to play a major role in Olympiacos’ UEFA Europa League Round of 32 tie against Arsenal, particularly as Olympiacos looking for a creative link between the midfield and in-form striker Youssef El-Arabi. A winter transfer might line the club’s pockets, but the cost it will have on Pedro Martins’ plans and the club’s chances of advancing to the Round of 16 would is unquantifiable.
It’s not the first time that Olympiacos have faced this predicament in the winter transfer window. In 2014, Fulham came calling for Kostas Mitroglou on the back of his impressive performance in the Champions League in which the Greek striker managed a hattrick against Anderlecht.
Olympiacos ultimately agreed to sell Mitroglou to Fulham for a then record fee of €15.2m and while the fee was welcome to support the club’s finances, no proper replacement for Mitroglou was signed before the end of the winter transfer window that year.
While Mitroglou’s health was in question at the time of the transfer and future developments following Mitroglou’s move to London suggested the Greek striker would need time to fully recover, the Greek striker’s departure left the Olympiacos attack toothless with a Champions League Round of 16 tie with Manchester United looming.
A 2-0 win in Piraeus suggested Olympiacos might be fine even without Mitroglou, but it was in the return leg at Old Trafford that Mitroglou’s absence was truly felt. Lacking a proper striker, mainly due to the lack of time to bring in a replacement, Olympiacos desperately missed Mitroglou’s abilities to finish chances inside opposition territory before crashing to a 3-0 defeat in the second leg and subsequent elimination from the competition.
Interviews given by Mitroglou in the years since his transfer indicated that Olympiacos was supportive of whatever the Greek striker decided, indicating that Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis supportive of Mitroglou whether he decided to leave or not.
It’s expected that Marinakis and the rest of the Olympiacos brass will be supportive of whatever Podence decides for his future, but all signs are currently pointing to January exit for the Portuguese playmaker. Unfortunately, Olympiacos’ status and more so the quality of Greek football doesn’t allow the club to be selfish and block a move even though that might be the best thing the club can do this winter.
