According to Greek and international media, Olympiakos defender Kostas Manolas is getting closer and closer to completing his transfer to A.S. Roma for a reported fee of 15 million euros.
The Greek international is also being heavily pursued by English powerhouse Arsenal, but one thing is certain. After a successful and heart throbbing run at the World Cup in Brazil, many Greek players are seeing their stock rise.
Only one Greek player had been purchased for over 10 million euros in the history of football and that was Giourkas Seitaridis back in 2006. Greek players were never really highly sought after and many thought in 2004 after Greece had prevailed in the Euros in Portugal that would change.
And while some Greek players managed to secure deals for good international teams, it was only up until 2013 when this phenomenon had really begun. Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Panagiotis Kone, and Vasilis Torosidis were transferred to the prestigious Serie A in Italy. Sokratis Papastathopoulos was also transferred to the German powerhouse Borussia Dortmund for a fee of 9.5 million euros. All players vital members of the 2014 World Cup team.
2014 marked an even greater year for Greek football players. Kostas Mitroglou moved to Fulham and arguably the greatest football league in the world, the English Premier League. Fulham forked out 15 million euros, breaking the record for the highest transfer fee for a Greek player. Moreover, Portuguese champions Benfica paid over 10 millions euros to secure the signature of Andreas Samaris after the player’s impressive display in Brazil, and now Kostas Manolas is set to eclipse the eight-figure transfer fee mark required to secure the player’s services.
It seems that Greek talent is finally being recognised by top tier European clubs with the website fichajes.com even noticing this phenomenon. The website also mentions the transfer of Giorgos Samaras who took his talents to the English Premier League, and goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis who will be playing with Samaris at Benfica.