Nottingham Forest have committed some huge money to signing Gustavo Puerta. The figures involved make his unusual route through Greece a bit easier to understand.
The 23-year-old has now officially been announced as an Olympiacos player. He’ll spend this season in Greece before moving on to Nottingham Forest next summer. And now Colombian journalists Pipe Sierra and Julián Capera have provided more details on the deal.
Sierra says Evangelos Marinakis’ group have committed €20m (£17.3m) to the operation.
Capera provides a breakdown of that figure. Racing Santander receive €16m (£13.8m), while the total cost rises to around €20m (£17.3m) when other payments are taken into account.
And that’s where things get particularly interesting for Puerta himself.
€4m for Puerta – and a huge salary
Their report says €4m (£3.5m) of the overall operation went directly to Puerta in bonuses for agreeing to sign with Olympiacos.
That’s some incentive to spend a season in Greece before getting his Premier League move.
Capera also makes an even bigger claim about Puerta’s wages. He says the Colombia international will be Nottingham Forest’s highest-paid player. In addition, he will be the highest-paid footballer in the entire Greek league.
Bolavip Colombia adds some context. Citing Capera’s information, they say he will earn more than €6m (£5.2m) a year.
No exact figure has been reported yet, but they point out that Morgan Gibbs-White is currently Forest’s highest earner on €6.6m (£5.7m) annually, while Daniel Podence tops the Greek league at €6.03m (£5.2m). Puerta would therefore have to beat both figures to become the highest-paid player at Forest and in Greek football, as claimed.
So, while Puerta has to wait a year for his move to England, Marinakis’ group have certainly made that wait financially worthwhile.
Forest contract already signed
There is another detail. Sierra says Puerta has signed a one-year contract with Olympiacos. At the same time, he has signed a three-year deal with Nottingham Forest. The Forest agreement will be made official next season.
Therefore, this isn’t just Olympiacos signing Puerta now with Forest hoping to get him later. According to Sierra, the Colombian has already put pen to paper on both contracts. This means his path to the Premier League is 100% certain.
In the end, having to spend one season playing Europa League football for Olympiacos before heading to the Premier League doesn’t look like much of a hardship with all of that on the table.
