The hunt for a striker heats up for Olympiacos

By: Peter Katsiris | January 14th, 2009

With Darko Kovacevic likely to be unavailable and unable to continue his football career anytime soon – and possibly soon to retire – and Konstantinos Mitroglou continues to undergo rehabilitation after a nagging injury, Olympiacos’ front line has been decreased from a three-pronged attack, to solely a Diogo show in front of goal.

While Olympiacos looked satisfied with three strikers at the start of the season, it was a very risky stance to take by Olympiacos management. And like the bitter winter, the little reinforcement in attack has bitten back this January, with Olympiacos scrambling to find replacements in offense.

Although the club has acknowledged the immediate need to find another front man to at least backup Brazilian star Diogo, their luck in the transfer market has been nothing but awful. The most prominent striker targeted by Olympiacos was VfB Stuttgart’s Ciprian Marica, but the Romania international has since gone down to injury; which does little good for a side looking for an immediate replacement.

Not only has injury deprived Olympiacos, competitors in the busy market have also snatched potential acquisitions away. The most recent case was Malmo FF’s Ola Toivonen, who as of Wednesday was the newest member of Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven.

There are still fish in the pond for the Piraeus giants to reel in, but with plenty of demand for strikers across Europe, Sokratis Kokkalis and company must act fast to find a replacement. Notable targets still up for grabs include Anorthosis Famagusta’s Lukasz Sosin, who terrorized Olympiacos when the two sides met in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.

Another name lingering in press reports is Sevilla’s Asquivaldo Mosquera, who has also been linked with a move to the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven. Though the move may be an ideal one for both parties, the demands expected to be imposed by the Spanish side may be just too much for the Greek Champions to handle.

In a time such as this, a premature emergency at the Giorgos Karaisakis Stadium, the inaccuracy of headlines are easily revealed. Though the strikers named previously are likely eligible to reach for the stars in an ‘Erythrolefki’ uniform, one suggested frontrunner was Bayer Leverkusen’s Theofanis Gekas. Despite several die-hards salivating over the prospect of one of Greece’s most successful strikers in recent years suiting up for the most successful club in Greece, the rumors linking Gekas with a move back to Greece are inaccurate, and according to Gekas a proposal is ‘non-existent’.

With all the talk now focusing on Olympiacos’ frontline, it seems wishes of bagging another midfielder like the long-time rumoured Alexandar Tettey are just a fantasy for supporters of ‘O Thrylos’.

The winter has never seemed so bleak for Olympiacos fans, whom have never gone through such drama during the crisp month of January. But as the mercury continues to dip, and the days become longer and longer, the agony takes over in Piraeus as ‘Gavroi’ alike await their side’s newest attacking acquisition.

So what can fellow football fans, and supporters of this beloved club do to educate themselves in what appears to be a dark time – at least for the time being. Likely, the answer is to just sit and wait. Some might stress that management isn’t take the steps to rebuild the deteriorated offense; however, a flashback to this summer might make them believe otherwise.

It was then that Olympiacos looked worse off, but in a… BAM (as they say in Greece) fans were reassured their side was not willing to rollover just because of a little transfer trouble. So with the familiar circumstances in place for management, it is time – or it will be shortly – for the clutch to be put in overdrive. Not a man known for his on-field heroics, Kokkalis will be watched closely ahead of the final bell for the transfer window, as success lies in the balance for the historic club aiming to make a mark in the final edition of the UEFA Cup.