Revolving door at Olympiacos in full flow during 2018
Earlier this year, Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis promised a major squad clear-out, and since 2018 began, a huge amount of players have left the Erythrolefkoi. AGONAsport investigates.
Watch LIVE GREEK TV including full GREEK SPORTS coverage from AGONASport.com!
One thing’s for sure - if you don’t perform at Olympiacos, you’ll be thrown out the door before you’ve even had time to unpack your bags. Following - and during - a disastrous 2017/2018 campaign, Marinakis cleared out the Olympiacos squad from top to bottom, getting rid of players which he deemed not capable of taking the Piraeus club back to its former glories. 20 changes were made to the squad in the summer, but the process had already began in January with figures such as Stefanos Kapino, Emmanuel Emenike and Diogo Figueiras sent packing.
Let’s take a look at how some of Olympiacos’ headline 2018 departures are now faring at their respective new clubs:
Uros Djurdjevic (Sporting Gijon): The Serbian striker arrived in Piraeus with high expectations, but he failed to make an impression in the Super League, shipped out to Sporting Gijon after the 2017/2018 season reached its completion. In 18 La Liga 2 matches with his new club, Djurdjevic is once again struggling to find his form, scoring only one goal and contributing with one assist.
Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe (Gent): At Legia Warsaw, the Belgian midfielder displayed plenty of potential, but he couldn’t find consistency at Olympiacos and he fell out of favour towards the end of last season. In the summer, he transferred to Gent, where he has registered three goals and two assist in 12 Jupiler League games.
Marko Marin (Red Star Belgrade): To his credit, the diminutive German attacker was effective at Olympiacos in his early days at the club, however he wasn’t a shining light in the previous campaign and the Thrylos decided to remove him from their wage bill. At new club Red Star Belgrade, Marin competed in the UEFA Champions League this season, tallying a goal at Paris Saint Germain and two assists in the shock 2:0 home win over Liverpool. In the domestic Serbian SuperLiga, the 29-year old has scored two goals and taken three assists in 10 fixtures.
Ehsan Hajsafi (Tractor Sazi): The left-back is surely past his best and he was allowed to move back to his native Iran with Tractor Sazi after participating at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Tractor, a club which also boasts former AEK midfielder Masoud Shojaei on its roster, is considered one of the elite teams in Iran and Hajsafi has made three assists in nine Persian Gulf Pro League matches.
Alaixys Romao (Reims): Initially, there were reports that the holding midfielder would stay when Pedro Martins was appointed Olympiacos head coach, but he was promptly shipped out to Reims in Ligue 1. In France, the Togolese international has been given 1562 minutes worth of playing time, popping up with one assist in his 18 games.
Giannis Gianniotas (AEK): In the 2017/2018 season, the 25-year old played on loan at Valladolid, but instead of returning to his parent club, Gianniotas had his Olympiacos contract scrapped and he penned a three-year deal with AEK. Unfortunately, it’s been another thoroughly disappointing campaign for the winger, as he’s only played in 10 games in all tournaments with the Enosis without scoring or making any assists.
Alberto Botia (Al Hilal): The ex-Barcelona prospect departed Olympiacos after his contract expired and travelled over to Saudi Arabia with Al Hilal. In the 2018/2019 Saudi Professional League, Botia has become an integral part of the Al Hilal defence, playing in 13 league matches with a grand total of 1152 minutes on the pitch. On his day, Botia is a reliable figure at the back.
Silvio Proto (Lazio): In late August 2017, the Belgian goalkeeper was drafted in to provide cover for Stefanos Kapino, but he quickly assumed the role of Olympiacos number one. Proto wasn’t mainly to blame for Olympiacos’ dreadful season, however he left the club and signed a contract with Italian giants Lazio. Predictably, the ageing 35-year old has to be content with being the back-up, and he’s only played in four UEFA Europa League matches.
Panagiotis Tachtsidis (Nottingham Forest): The Greek midfielder was a major disappointment, and after being ostracized from the Olympiacos first time on a misconduct charge, the 27-year old moved abroad to English Championship side Nottingham Forest. To put it lightly, Tachtsidis has endured a nightmare in England, with the player having not even played in one match with Nottingham so far. A waste of a potentially very strong midfielder.
Karim Ansarifard (Nottingham Forest): Just like Tachtsidis, the Iranian forward was deemed surplus to requirements at the Karaiskakis Stadium and was snapped up by Nottingham Forest, the other club which is owned by Evangelos Marinakis. Sadly, Ansarifard has fared poorly in the second tier of English football, receiving six minutes of Championship football over the course of four separate matches.
Bjorn Engels (Reims): The 24-year old Belgian centre-back showed flashes of his talent in Piraeus, however Pedro Martins didn’t have Engels in his plans for the 2018/2019 season and he was sent out on loan to Reims in France. In the first half of the campaign, Engels has taken a step forward in his career, competing in 15 Ligue 1 matches and netting the one goal. It will be interesting to see whether Olympiacos recall him in the summer of 2019.
More Olympiacos departures in 2018:
Sasa Zdjelar (Partizan Belgrade), Emmanuel Emenike (Las Palmas, now free agent), Ivica Ivusic (NK Osijek), Guillaume Gillet (Lens), Andre Martins (Legia Warsaw), Diogo Figueiras (SC Braga), Stefanos Kapino (Nottingham Forest, now at Werder Bremen), Tarik Elyounoussi (AIK Stockholm), Mehdi Carcela Gonzalez (Granada, now at Standard Liege), Bruno Viana (SC Braga), Konstantinos Laifis (Standard Liege), Seba (Chongqing Dangdai Lifan), Spyros Risvanis (Atromitos Athens), Giorgos Manthatis (Panionios), Igor Silva (AEK Larnaca), Dimitris Goutas (Lech Poznan), Anastasios Karamanos (PAS Lamia 1964), Epameinondas Pantelakis (Panathinaikos), Nicolas Martinez (Aris), Manolis Siopis (Aris), Antonis Karageorgis (AO Chania Kissamikos), Dimitris Tasioulis (Apollon Larissa), Iasonas Gavalas (Atromitos Piraeus), Antonis Fouasis (Kalamata), Giorgos Xydas (PAS Giannina), Nikos Vergos (Panathinaikos), Ardit Toli (AO Chania Kissamikos), Stathis Lamprou (Aittitos Spata), Dimitris Skafidas (Pafos), Dimitris Kligopoulos (free agent), Konstantinos Megaritis (Nottingham Forest), Konstantinos Papagou (Nottingham Forest).
