Evangelos Marinakis eyes a strategic swoop for Colombian midfielder Gustavo Puerta, leveraging Nottingham Forest’s financial power to bolster Olympiacos’s midfield ahead of an ambitious Europa League campaign.
Colombian journalist Pipe Sierra reported on the Gustavo Puerta to Olympiacos saga, claiming that Racing de Santander have reached a verbal agreement for the transfer of the midfielder to the Evangelos Marinakis group.
Olympiacos are not directly dealing with the potential signing, as Marinakis-led Premier League side Nottingham Forest are looking to own the player in the future and loan him to the Red and Whites after his transfer.
The newly promoted La Liga outfit was reluctant to negotiate for Puerta, as they want any interested party to pay his entire release clause in the region of 20 million euros. It was unlikely from the beginning of the transfer rumours that Olympiacos would be paying such a gigantic amount for the midfielder, even though they require one right now. However, the Marinakis Football Group could invest in him through Forest and decide to loan him to the Greek giants later.
Club president Marinakis has set the target for Thrylos to reach the final of the UEFA Europa League after the club learned about their opponents for the eight matchdays in the league phase of the tournament. While they failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League following a loss on aggregate in the third qualifying round for the competition against Dutch side NEC Nijmegen, the Europa League could prove to be a boon for the club, as they are well on par with the other teams there.
Puerta will be handed the task of leading the team to the final and ultimately lifting the trophy. It would be José Luis Mendilibar's second European triumph with the club after winning the Conference League.
There has been much to-and-fro with the Colombian midfielder's transfer this summer, as he was previously expected to join SL Benfica from Racing de Santander. Reports claimed that he had chosen the Portuguese club over Olympiacos, but things have changed since Nottingham Forest entered the race. The Tricky Trees offer Puerta the chance to shine in the English top flight soon after his projected loan tenure ends with Olympiacos.
According to a report by Sportdog.gr, journalist Julián Capera revealed that Puerta will continue his future at Nottingham Forest, and will sign a contract until 2030 with the club. There is also an agreement in principle with Real Racing Club. However, this is another claim of the side activating the release clause since the Spanish outfit clearly mentioned that they will not be entering into any negotiations for a cut-price fee.
