Olympiakos’ Future Stars

Olympiakos’ Future Stars

By Stephen Kountourou, 

If there is one thing that football supporters love to see from their club, it is bringing through young talent. Whether they graduate from the academy or found from good scouting and recruitment, there is something wholesome about seeing players breaking into senior football and kick starting a potential star studded career. Is this another good excuse for me to write another Olympiakos blog? You bet it is. 

The newly crowned champions, with all the talents of the senior squad and youth academy, tend to have a lot of players out on loan, mainly to see how they fare at a decent level before either, proving themselves to be a valuable player for the future, or just not quite fitting the bill. 

With all that being said, this week I'll be taking a look at a plethora of players that have spent the season out on loan and, depending on whether Pedro Martins deems them 'in his plans', could potentially break into the senior squad and become future legends for the Piraeus giants. 

Giannis Masouras 

After being signed by Olympiakos in the summer of 2018 and merely playing a handful of Greek Cup games, talented right back Giannis Masouras was sent out on loan to Panionios mid way through the 18/19 season. Olympiakos then agreed a second loan spell with the panthers towards the end of August 2019, to further develop him as a potential future starting player for the Piraeus giants. 

To begin with he continued to impress in Nea Smyrni making thirteen appearances in the first half of the season before he was called back in early 2020 to his parent club and sent instead to AEL Larissa. His season however ended rather prematurely, after the president of the Thessaly club, Alexis Kougia, personally took it upon himself to terminate the former Greek under 21 international loan deal for supposed 'serious disciplinary offences' although the details of what happened remain undisclosed. 

With his return to Olympiakos he has shown despite those previous strange circumstances that he is talented in his preferred role on the right side of defence combining attacking threat and defensive solidarity. If he can prove himself to Pedro Martins in pre season, and with the imminent departure of long serving right back and captain Omar Elabdellaoui and Bruno Gaspar on the verge of signing for Olympiakos permanently, Masouras could make a potential push to claim his slot in the first team to start the 2020/21 season and make his talents known to the rest of continent. 

Ioannis Kosti

Now this is one I'm very excited about. I was ecstatic when Olympiakos announced the signing of talented Cypriot midfielder Ioannis Kosti in October 2019. 

Having broken into Cypriot side Nea Salamina over the last couple of seasons and has shown maturity at a decent level, the Cypriot international was sent back on loan to his former club until the end of the season. 

After making 20 appearances he would have seen out a very impressive season playing in the Cypriot First Division, had European football not been prematurely stopped due to the pandemic and the eventual abandonment of the domestic season on the Island. Still only 20 years old, Kosti is not one that I think is close to the first team with many talented and more experienced players in his position ahead of him. But with a couple more loan spells at a higher level and if opportunities are given to him, to show why he is so highly rated in Cyprus, it would be a real treat for me and other Kypreai to see a fellow Greek Cypriot playing for Olympiakos for the first time since the legendary Michalis Konstantinou and goalkeeper Urko Pardo. Still think it's a shame Kostas Laifis was never given a chance at Thrylos, just saying.    

Hugo Cuypers 

Belgian forward Hugo Cuypers joined Olympiakos last summer based on his monumental goal scoring, weirdly the season before last. Having played 28 and scored 22 for Egrotelis in the Greek second tier during the 2017/18 season, he fell out of favour the following campaign following a failed move to AEK Athens and subsequently not reporting for pre season. Despite not playing a single minute in 18/19, Thrylos took a punt on the young Belgians talents signing him in the summer of 2019 and sent him out on loan to French Ligue 2, AC Ajaccio. Despite not scoring a wealth of goals this season he has still impressed many fans of his parent club, scoring 5 and assisting 5 in 21 appearances before the French FA decided to end the league season prematurely, and showing that he has the capabilities to play at a decent level. If I was to give an estimate for him this coming season at the very least, he will either stay and play third choice striker behind, El Arabi and Hassan, who is almost certain to be signed permanently from Braga, or given another season out on loan until Pedro Martins is willing to give Cuypers a real shot a playing constantly for the Piraeus giants. Still an exciting play non the less.      

Thanasis Androutsos

Probably the most familiar player to supporters of the Erythrolefki, Greek international  Thanasis Androutsos is, for me, a definite future first team player for Olympiakos; if I am wrong feel free to hit future me up with what I have just said in this blog, and remind me how wrong I was. After breaking into the Thrylos side in 2016 and playing intermittently for the last 3 seasons, Pedro Martins sent the versatile midfielder out on loan to Atromitos. The 23 year old has shown he can be trusted with constant game time in the first team, and has played a vital part of the Athens side season, making 30 appearances in all competitions scoring 4 and assisting once. As said before what he can bring to Olympiakos, if given the opportunity, is his versatility being able to play in central and attacking midfield and even being deployed on the right hand side as well. With Pedro Martins preferring a 4-3-3 formation with hard working ball progressing players in the centre of the pitch Androutsos could be an ideal asset for the Portuguese managers squad for the future.   

Svetozar Markovic

Highly touted by Partizan Belgrade, the young Bonsian defender joined Olympiakos for a reported fee of 1.5 million Euros off the back of two very successful seasons for the Serbian side. Despite high hopes for him to be part of the squad for the season, Pedro Martins clearly was not convinced and when comparing him to other players in his position that has played for Thrylos this season, was sent out on loan to Larissa. While not a starter for the Thessaly side, he made appearances in the regular season, the playouts, the Greek Cup and even the Under 19s Super League this season. A chance in the first team is not in his immediate future and this season may not have been what he expected upon arriving in Greece, but given time to develop his talents Markovic could definitely be a brilliant long term option and a reliable defender for the club in the future.   

Marios Vrousai

Now this one might not even happen and I am probably wasting my time when talking about Marios Vrousai, mainly because he is already on his way out of the club if reports are correct. But the Greek winger is still an Olympiakos player at the time of writing and is very talented so I am definitely not going to miss the chance to talk about him. The Greek international has been plying his trade in Holland for the last two seasons out on loan at Willem II, where he has been showing not only what his parent club are missing, but also becoming hugely important for the future of the national team. In his last two seasons in the Eredivisie he has racked up 6 goals and 8 assists in 37 league matches and helped his side reach 5th place in the table and a Europa League second qualifying place before the League was abandoned. At first it seemed as though Vrousai would sign permanently to the Dutch side with agreements being reached with his parent club Olympiakos but talks fell through even though the 22 year old was happy to continue his career in Holland. With a deal from Willem II or a different club not currently on the cards the young winger, who can play on both sides of midfield as well as attacking mid, will return to his parent club, maybe to either fight for a place in the Thrylos side, or a move abroad to pastures new.

Fode Camara

The French Second Division has been a gold mine of talent for Olympiakos in recent times. With players who are hard working and bursting with talent coming to Piraeus and becoming vital to the clubs success, Fode Camara looks to be no different. The diminutive left back, much like fellow players Pape Cisse, Mady Camara and Ousseynou Ba, with the latter of the two coming from the same club, Gazélec Ajaccio, has been another player Thrylos have scouted and identified as a real prospect. The Guinean native was signed by the Piraeus side last summer but was sent back out on loan to his former club for the season to further his development and a club which is excellent at producing young talent. While not making as many appearances in 19/20 compared to the previous season his talent is still very evident with the 22 year old in line to possibly becoming the starting left back next season. With Kostas Tsimikas possibly leaving this summer, having been touted by both Inter Milan and Napoli for the past few months; and with Leonardo Koutris out long term with an ACL injury, Camara has the chance now to prove himself to his parent club and take his career to the next level.  

Nikola Čumić

What a season Serbian winger Nikola Čumić, has had! Having signed for Olympiakos from FK Radnički Niš in the Serbian SuperLiga the 21 year old was sent back to his former club for the current season and while he was seen as a talent before, he has more then established himself as prospect for both Thrylos and the future of the Serbian national team. In all competitions Čumić has amassed a whopping 16 goals and 5 assists in 27 games with his side finishing 5th in the league by the end of the season. With the flexibility to play on both wings and even at centre forward, and calls for his immediate addition into the first team after his stunning season, Čumić, much like fellow Serbian player Lazar Ranđelović, could theoretically both play on either side of the Olympiakos attack for years to come. 

Whether all of these players work out and become stars for Olympiakos, or not, the future is bright for both the way the club recruits, and the success rate of the players brought in. I for one, am excited to see these potential prospects make their first steps into senior football in Piraeus.

Hellas Football 

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