A coaching upheaval at Olympiacos and surging young talent forced the veteran midfielder Dani Garcia to choose between the bench and a fresh start, sparking his immediate move to Atromitos
An update by TransferFeed shed some light on the reason behind midfielder Dani Garcia's quickfire exit from Olympiacos following the departure of former head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar.
The Spaniard did not want a 'passive' role at Olympiacos and wanted regular first-team minutes. Garcia shared a special relationship with Mendilibar since both of them worked together during their stints with SD Eibar. Despite the new midfield signings, Mendilibar was still providing the 36-year-old with the necessary playing time suitable for his age.
Garcia's performances witnessed a sharp downturn throughout last season and he was convincing anybody with the few chances he got in this one. Mendilibar's sacking and Imanol Alguacil's arrival with the new faces of Gustavo Puerta, Remo Freuler and the rise of youth academy player Christos Filis further shut Garcia's door to the starting line-up.
Keeping all these factors in mind, Garcia did not want to stay on the Red and Whites' payroll as a background member. He still desires regular appearances without getting benched, and therefore decided to mutually terminate his contract with Olympiacos. Fellow Super League Greece side Atromitos showed an early interest in him as soon as he became a free agent on the market, grabbing his signature, while the player thanked the Peristeri outfit's management for believing in him.
The Real Sociedad academy graduate joined Olympiacos in the summer of 2024, making 72 appearances across all competitions, finding the net just once. He won one SLGR title, one Greek Cup and one Greek Super Cup with the club.
In other news, we at Olympiacos Roundtable listed the players called up by their national teams for the upcoming international break. Armando Gonzalez, who received only 14 minutes in Mexico's opening match against South Africa at the 2026 World Cup, is expected to play a more influential role after making an immediate impact in Europe. La Hormiga scored his first UEFA Europa League goal in his European debut against Jagiellonia Bialystok last week. Apart from that, he integrated nicely into the Olympiacos squad and has been stepping up to pose as the first-choice striker following the injury of Ayoub El Kaabi.
Meanwhile, the Greek National Team called Panagiotis Retsos and Manolis Saliakas for their Nations League fixtures during the break. They are set to face Serbia, The Netherlands, and Germany twice. The rest two matchdays will be played in the November international break.
