Have no fear, Diogo is (finally) here!

By: Peter Katsiris | August 22nd, 2008

It’s all over; the most anticipated transfer of the summer — at least from a Gavroi perspective — has finally been completed. Diogo was officially unveiled as an Olympiacos player yesterday, after agreeing to a 5-year deal with the Greek Champions earlier this week. After months of speculation, the saga that featured several back-and-forth negotiations between the player’s former club, Portuguesa, and the Piraeus club finally ended earlier this week when Diogo arrived at the Eleutheros Venizelos Airport in Athens — coincidentally his flight was delayed for about thirty minutes.

An announcement on the club’s official site (www.olympiacos.org), announced the acquisition. “Olympiacos C.F.P. would like to announce the signing of Brazilian forward Diogo Louis Santo, who penned a five year contract.”

The transfer of Diogo from Brazil to Greece has certainly made the club’s wallet much lighter, with the transfer fee reported to be around € 9 million.

After arriving in Greece on Tuesday, the Brazilian prospect took in Olympiacos’ friendly against Al-Hilal from a VIP box at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium. Speaking with the Greek Media, Diogo looked excited and somewhat relieved to be in Greece and finally a member of Olympiacos.

“I am a player of Olympiacos, and now a … fan. I wanted to join the club all along, but there were some issues that needed to be taken care of. I am now extremely happy. I know what I have to do. Olympiacos is a winner and so am I. I will do my best for the club. I need to score in every single game but I know that against Panathinaikos it will be sweeter…” said an excited Diogo.

The player made his way to Karaiskaki later that night, and ahead of the match he was presented to the fans when his face was splashed across the ground’s big screen. Receiving a standing ovation from the Olympiacos faithful on hand for the pre-game ceremonies, Diogo seemed overwhelmed by the atmosphere. However, the Brazilian seemed to snap out of his moment of astonishment when he was reunited by Leonardo — a teammate of Diogo’s at Portuguesa. Rumored to have a hand in Diogo decision to sign with Olympiacos, the pair are just a sample of the wave of South American players taking over Piraeus.

Not only was Diogo renewing friendships; he was making new ones as well. Finding his way back into the spotlight, Diogo was pictured with Olympiacos club President Sokratis Kokkalis. The two were spotted sharing a laugh in one of the many VIP boxes at Karaiskaki.

Despite Diogo signing ahead of the crucial return leg of the club’s 3rd Qualifying Round tie with Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta, the Brazilian starlet will not be able to debut for the club in the match that will decide the club’s European fate — either a return to the UEFA Champions League group stage, or a spot in the 2nd Round of the UEFA Cup. Rather, the Olympiacos faithful will have to most likely wait for the pursuing weekend fixture against Asteras Tripolis — Olympiacos’ opening fixture of this season’s Greek Super League.