European Trio Battle for Spartak Moscow Striker as Olympiacos Seek Attacking Boost

Greek club Olympiacos are reportedly looking to sign a forward before the commencement of the 2026-27 season in its bid to improve the attacking prowess of the team and give José Luis Mendilibar’s team a chance to secure considerable success in the multiple competitions that the team is going to participate in.

According to a report by TransferFeed, Olympiacos are interested in securing the services of Costa Rican forward Manfred Ugalde. The 24-year-old currently plays in the Russian Premier League for Spartak Moscow and is under a contract that binds him to the club until 30 June 2028. The player is currently valued at €12 million.

Spartak Moscow are demanding quite a high price for the transfer of Ugalde; in fact, it was reported that the club were asking for a price of €20 million earlier in the year, later reducing their demands to the range of €12 million-€15 million. The Russian club will definitely be reluctant to let the player leave for a low amount, given the fact that they have already loaned out another striker, Trinidadian player Levi Garcia, to Greek side Panathinaikos.

Starting his senior career at Costa Rican club Saprissa in 2019, Manfred Ugalde later transferred to Belgian side Lommel in 2020. In 2021, he made another move, this time to Eredivisie side Twente on loan, and later permanently joined the club in 2023. In 2024, he made the move to his current club, Spartak Moscow. With Saprissa, he was part of the squads that won the CONCACAF League in 2019 and the Liga FPD in 2020. He has also won the 2025-26 Russian Cup with Spartak Moscow.

In addition to his club career, Ugalde has also been a part of the senior Costa Rica National Football Team since 2020, appearing in 33 games for Los Ticos and netting 11 goals. 

It is also being reported that clubs like Real Betis and Sevilla are interested in signing the 24-year-old forward. It remains to be seen which club finally manages to secure his services, or whether he continues playing in Moscow.

In other news, Olympiacos are also looking to sign a midfielder before the commencement of the new season. As per Roundtable, the Piraeus club are trying to secure the services of Venezuelan playmaker Cristian Cásseras, currently playing for French club Toulouse FC.

According to a report by Gazzetta.gr, Olympiacos have placed an official bid for Cásseras. The amount, reportedly, lies just below the €10 million mark, a figure that matches the price asked by Toulouse for the transfer of the player. Given the circumstances, the transfer seems to be imminent.