Olympiacos and River Plate have settled on $33.7M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sparta Prague have kept their man, and Olympiacos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
$25.4M on the table at São Paulo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Panetolikos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Olympiacos had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Olympiacos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.32 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jofre Carreras and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad29 Dec 2031
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Azzedine Ounahi provided it, and the 8.14 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.80 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Iker Losada will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Olympiacos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.63 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Dec 2031
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 72 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
3‑4 against Real Madrid. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
22 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.53 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
7.82, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
86 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 9.02 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.30 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rayan Fofana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Olympiacos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
The words a physio says slowly. 113 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
1‑1 against Club Brugge, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Javi Llabrés will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Olympiacos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The words a physio says slowly. 138 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Panetolikos will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Olympiacos were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Olympiacos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.00 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Marcos Antonio scored, was marked 7.98, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The bid was some way short and Olympiacos did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom1 Sep 2031
Deadline passes with 40 signed and 40 gone
That is the business done at Olympiacos until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Olympiacos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Panetolikos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Olympiacos and AEK have settled on $1.2M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Pepelu is living that version at Olympiacos, and it tends to show in the first month.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Olympiacos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Words at Olympiacos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Hancko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Sergi Cardona
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympiacos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Asteras waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
$2.8M on the table at Aris Thessaloniki. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AEK have kept their man, and Olympiacos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jay Stansfield has just signed for Olympiacos, and for once the answer mattered.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Olympiacos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Olympiacos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Rosario Central waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Nomme Kalju for Georgios Papadopoulos was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Daniel Gore has agreed terms with AEK for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Edu Expósito has, at Olympiacos, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Olympiacos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer from Wigan Athletic for Daniel Gore was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dávid Hancko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
54 goals in 33 games at Morelia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad5 May 2031
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Davide Calabria and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
120 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Words at Olympiacos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Hancko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Olympiacos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Olympiacos will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympiacos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Olympiacos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Iker Losada will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Olympiacos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Words at Olympiacos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Hancko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Anastasios Tsimikas and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The phone has started ringing about Fredrik Oppegård again, and this time the name on the line is Aalesund. Olympiacos are listening politely and promising nothing.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” César Tárrega has his answer from Olympiacos; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 34 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympiacos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 34 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
18 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Two goals and a mark of 9.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
1‑3 against Borussia Dortmund, and an evening that measured the gap rather than the ninety minutes. Nothing about it was a disgrace and nothing about it was close.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Olympiacos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympiacos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 51 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Atromitos will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Olympiacos were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Position 1 on 72 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Olympiacos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
46 goals in 29 games at Morelia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Olympiacos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
60 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Olympiacos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Olympiacos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
In brief
Player ratingsA brace, and Akor Adams takes the afternoon — 8.93
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympiacos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
66 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Olympiacos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Godoy Cruz waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.63 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Denis Pérez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Olympiacos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Dec 2030
Words at Olympiacos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gonçalo Guedes is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
37 goals in 22 games at Morelia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Two goals and a mark of 8.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
In brief
MarketAndriy Lunin wants to know where this is going
Add another name to the list: River Plate have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Marc Pubill. The answer from Olympiacos has not changed — yet.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.33 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.84 for the rest of it.
9 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.17 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Azzedine Ounahi scored, was marked 7.65, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
2‑0 against Ujpest, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Gonçalo Guedes was at the centre of the description.
26 goals in 16 games at Morelia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.42 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Olympiacos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two goals and a mark of 9.84 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.48 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Denis Pérez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Olympiacos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadDávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
A brace, and Akor Adams takes the afternoon — 8.78
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Akor Adams provided it, and the 8.78 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.98 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Akor Adams. 3‑1 against Asteras, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
Player ratingsLeon Bailey beats them one at a time
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Olympiacos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
1‑1 against Club Brugge, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.98 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Lefteris Choutesiotis is a Olympiacos player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The words a physio says slowly. 65 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Olympiacos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Nicolás Capaldo has, at Olympiacos, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 17 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Olympiacos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Two goals and a mark of 9.38 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.94 for the rest of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 89 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Panathinaikos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Lincoln City for Caleb Taylor was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Stefan Ortega reports back to Olympiacos with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Charlie Patiño is living that version at Olympiacos, and it tends to show in the first month.
Azzedine Ounahi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
The dugoutLeon Bailey knocks on the manager's door
The dugoutDávid Hancko has become a man the manager trusts
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Olympiacos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Olympiacos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Gonçalo Guedes has just signed for Olympiacos, and for once the answer mattered.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Olympiacos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Leon Bailey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Words at Olympiacos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Hancko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 103 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
66 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Olympiacos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Azzedine Ounahi has, at Olympiacos, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The bid was some way short and Olympiacos did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
110 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympiacos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Olympiacos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The bid was some way short and Olympiacos did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Words at Olympiacos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Hancko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 118 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympiacos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Olympiacos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Olympiacos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympiacos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Olympiacos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Morelia for Renato Sanches was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The deal that would have taken Ayoub El Kaabi to Aris Thessaloniki has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Olympiacos with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Words at Olympiacos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Hancko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Khalis Merah was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Aris Thessaloniki waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Dorados for Carlos Domínguez was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Nothing signed, nothing denied, and a lot of people suddenly very careful about their wording. Supporters who have been through one of these know the quiet part lasts months.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Atletico Nacional pay $2.6M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
In brief
SquadWords at Olympiacos training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympiacos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Panetolikos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Words at Olympiacos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Hancko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Olympiacos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Olympiacos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Words at Olympiacos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Hancko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ayoub El Kaabi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Renato Sanches
The words a physio says slowly. 58 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Olympiacos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Khalis Merah had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dávid Hancko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
66 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Olympiacos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Carlos Domínguez had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Olympiacos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The words a physio says slowly. 73 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The name of Carlos Domínguez has come up in conversations Olympiacos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Olympiacos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
31 goals in 15 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Dávid Hancko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Khalis Merah is living that version at Olympiacos, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad27 May 2030
Marc Pubill falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Olympiacos will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Olympiacos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Olympiacos had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Marvin Park has just signed for Olympiacos, and for once the answer mattered.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The words a physio says slowly. 98 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
24 goals in 13 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Olympiacos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dávid Hancko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
23 goals in 12 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aboubakary Koita will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Olympiacos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad6 May 2030
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
21 goals in 14 games at Atletico Venezuela — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
19 goals in 11 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Words at Olympiacos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Hancko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Olympiacos heard it as anything else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dávid Hancko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Adama Traoré was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dávid Hancko is on it.
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mady Camara will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Olympiacos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
19 goals in 12 games at Atletico Venezuela — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bastien Meupiyou has just signed for Olympiacos, and for once the answer mattered.
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Olympiacos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mady Camara has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Keven Schlotterbeck is living that version at Olympiacos, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 55 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympiacos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The bid was some way short and Olympiacos did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Dávid Hancko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
11 goals in 7 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
In brief
The dugoutAkor Adams is still being punished for one mistake
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Olympiacos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
1‑4 against Paris Saint-Germain. The honest reading is not that the players were poor; it is that the distance between this club and that one is currently measured in things money takes years to buy.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Leon Bailey has just signed for Olympiacos, and for once the answer mattered.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Olympiacos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympiacos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Andriy Lunin