Earlier on Monday, we covered a report in the Greek media that Daniel Podence’s transfer to Wolverhampton Wanderers was under threat, meaning he could remain an Olympiakos player going forward.
The news was reported by Sport24, who explained an agreement hadn’t been reached, with talks ‘not progressing as expected’.
Wanting to find out a bit more about what was going on, the Greek outlet contacted Olympiakos’ Head of Communication, Nikos Gavalas, to see what the real issue was.
He spoke to their radio station and revealed Podence’s transfer to Wolves was ‘stuck’ because there was a difference with the Premier League side when it came to selling the player, but made it clear it had nothing to do with what Jorge Mendes would receive.
He said: “In the summer, Olympiakos paid €7m to own 100% of Podence’s rights, and the player belongs to the team. I want to stress that there were no issues with Mendes and the percentages. His representative would receive the minimum percentages provided in this deal.
“The dispute was between the parties regarding the terms of his contract and negotiations for Podence’s sale were halted. Many say his mind was already in England before developments in this transfer rolled around, and that might be a source of dissatisfaction.
“But the Olympiakos world know the matter will clear up immediately the moment he is an Olympiakos player (plays for them). You know that Olympiakos are famous for tough negotiations on football players that are going to be sold”.
He continued by stating ‘much of what had been written didn’t correspond to reality’, and emphasised once more the problems were with Podence’s contract.
So it appears the two clubs could have agreed on a fee, but things went awry when personal terms were brought up.
We’ll have to wait and see if Wolves can turn this around in their favour, but with just four days left, time is running out.
