David Carmo may not join with Leicester City as sources from Portugal indicate Olympiacos has made a €15 million approach to acquire the Porto defender.
The highly-regarded center defender Carmo of Porto, whose reputation grew last season while on loan with the Greek UEFA Europa Conference League champions, was reportedly the subject of a head-to-head negotiation between the Foxes and Wolves, according to Portuguese media two weeks ago. Throughout the knockout stages, he participated in every minute of play, including the final match against Fiorentina and both semi-final legs against Aston Villa.
The resurgence of connections came as a pleasant surprise, since at the age of 21, Carmo was considered for a move to Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester club. When facing his old team, Braga, the defender’s attributes were discussed in length by the club’s former manager.
Nevertheless, Olympiacos’s swift steps have dashed any dreams of a move finally happening after all these years. They have made an offer of €12.6 million (€12 million up front plus €3 million in add-ons), according to O Jogo and Record.
The suggestion earlier in the month was that the Greeks would not act as they passed up the €17.5m (£14.8m) option placed in his six-month loan deal, so this bid has taken Carmo’s English suitors by surprise. Olympiacos are of course owned by Evangelos Marinakis, who also holds a controlling stake in City’s East Midlands rivals, Nottingham Forest.
Also, when these links came about earlier in June, Steve Cooper – formerly employed by Marinakis at Forest – was not yet named the new Foxes manager ahead of the new season.
