Kostas Manolas: Piraeus, Italy and Back Again

Kostas Manolas: Piraeus, Italy and Back Again

By Stephen Kountourou 

For years, supporters of Greek champions Olympiakos, have dreamed of talented defender Kostas Manolas returning to Piraeus to compete in the red and white once more. Many, myself included, thought that it could not happen this soon in the Greek internationals career, with Manolas still 30 years old and theoretically at the peak of his powers. There was also the issue of his transfer fee being far too high for Thrylos, as a supposed failed attempt to re-sign the Naxos native last summer apparently would have cost the club around 10 million Euros. 

But to everyone’s surprise, Thrylos fans were treated to an early Christmas present as Manolas arrived at the club’s headquarters in Piraeus to officially rejoin Olympiakos. For the first blog of 2022, it’s a dive into the career of Kostas Manolas from leaving Piraeus on a high to compete in Serie A with two giants of the league before his return to Piraeus last month and the excitement of the future. 

Making It Big with Olympiakos

I’ll keep this one brief as we all remember Manolas during his first stint with the Piraeus side, but I would still like to reflect on just how he made himself such a desirable player in Europe which won him a move abroad. Upon signing from AEK on a free transfer a near 10 years ago in July 2012, Manolas would not make his full debut for Olympiakos until 15th September against PAS Giannina in a 1-2 victory. From that point, Manolas went from strength to strength playing almost every match for the rest of the Greek Super League season as Olympiakos won the title and Cup double. He also played every minute of the club’s Champions League group stage campaign where Thrylos finished 3rd in a tough group and dropped to the Europa League Round of 32. 

2013/14 was Where Manolas really established himself as not only the best defender in Greece but one of the most exciting and talented players outside of Europe's top 5 leagues, with many suitors watching his performances. Once again Manolas helped Olympiakos win a consecutive league title and despite not winning the Greek Cup, he was key for Thrylos in the Champions League. Except for the first match against PSG, Manolas played every game during the Group stages, even scoring the winner in a vital match against Benfica. Thrylos were able to pip the Portuguese giants to second place and book the Round of 16 tie against Manchester United. During the first leg, he kept a clean sheet in a famous 2-0 win against the Premier League giants before disappointingly losing the return leg at Old Trafford 3-0 to be knocked out of the UCL. 

Despite this, Manolas gained further recognition for his performances for Olympiakos in all competitions and his departure seemed inevitable. After an impressive campaign in the World Cup with Greece, as they narrowly missed out on the quarter-finals, Manolas seemed all but set to depart Olympiakos and Piraeus for pastures new and his destination. Rome.   

The Move to Roma and New Heights 

On the 27th of August 2014, after many suitors supposedly sought the signature of the Greek international,l Manolas signed for Roma for a fee of around 15 Million Euros. He continued in Serie A where he left off in Greece, playing 41 games in all competitions as Roma finished second behind Juventus as well as the European campaign. Throughout his five year stint in the Italian capital, Manolas clocked up an impressive 156 appearances for the Romans. He was integral to Roma’s consistent top 3 finishes in Serie A as well as gained notoriety as one of the best players in his position in Europe, with links to the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan. 

In the European competition, Manolas also was able to show his class in helping Roma reach either the Champions League or Europa League knockout stages every season he played at the club. Most notably, during his final season in Rome, Manolas famously scored a last minute header to overturn the tie against Barcelona in the Champions League quarter finals and in doing so, sent the Romans to the last 4 of the 18/19 edition of the competition. Sadly Manolas was never able to obtain silverware during his time in Rome, although he did earn an individual accolade of being voted as one of the top 50 best players in Europe in 2018.

Massive Fee to Napoli Coming at a Price

After making over 200 appearances for Roma, Manolas ended his time in the capital and joined league rivals, Napoli, for a massive 34 Million euros plus a 2 million sign-on fee with a deal for midfielder Amadou Diawara to go the other way for 18 million Euros plus 3 million in addons. To date, this is the most expensive transfer for a Greek player. Sadly Manolas debut season would not go according to plan as the Greek international was in and out of the squad in the first couple of months due to injury. 

Eventually, he did end up making 35 appearances in all competitions but unfortunately, he was part of a Napoli side that finished a lowly 7th place in a disrupted Serie A season due to Covid19. Despite a poor domestic campaign Manolas was able to win his first piece of silverware in Italy as Napoli defeated Juventus on penalties, booking their place in the Europa League for the following campaign. Manolas himself also earned the individual accolade of being voted as part of former club Roma’s team of the decade.

In Manolas final full season in Serie A, the Greek defender played 33 games in competitions with the vast majority coming in the league. He and Napoli went to the final day of the season with the 4th place still in the balance between them and Juventus, but it was the side from Turin that would snatch the final Champions League place. Although Manolas featured constantly in domestic competitions he did not play a minute of Napoli’s Europa League campaign as the southern Italian side knocked out of the round of 32 in a shock upset to Spanish newcomers Granada. The final few months of Manolos were riddled with injury problems, meaning he hardly featured during the first half of the season for Napoli. He made a handful of appearances for the side Naples in both the league and Europa League before his eventual departure in December 2021. 

Piraeus Return and Moving Forward 

As said at the beginning of this blog, Manolas made his return to Olympiakos official just before the transfer window opened with the player offering to not have his wages for December paid to him by Napoli to make the move happen. The initial fee for the transfer officially was 2.5 million Euros with an extra 2 million to be paid in instalments. For 4.5 million in total that is an absolute steal for Thrylos considering the age and the quality of the player that they have signed. Manolas being 30 years old should still be at the peak of his powers as a defender and going forward if his return is successful he could be part of the Olympiakos backline for the next few years. If the Greek champions have aspirations of retaining the league title as well as going to the next level in Europe over the next couple of seasons, the resigning of Kostas Manolas could be key to Thrylos present and future successes.

Hellas Football 

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