On Tuesday night, Olympiacos were defeated 2-1 by NEC Nijmegen in the Champions League third-qualifying round. The defeat means Olympiacos will play no further part in European football this season. The Greek club will simply play domestic football.
The club’s defeat to NEC comes just days after Sporting Kansas City finalised their $22 million transfer for winger Andre Luiz. Sporting will pay $18 million upfront,
with additional money being paid as add-ons.
According to OneFootball, Olympiacos have a 20% sell-on fee. If true, Sporting Kansas City will pay a large sum to Olympiacos if and when they sell the player. The chances of Sporting Kansas City recouping much of the fee paid for Andre Luiz are low unless he sells for $30 million or more.
I’ve previously outlined my thoughts on Andre Luiz. Sporting Kansas City are paying a sizeable fee, the biggest in club history, for a player whose best moments came last season for Rio Ave in Portugal. Those performances were in the first half of the season before Olympiacos signed Andre Luiz in January. The Brazilian failed to score or assist a goal in eight appearances in all competitions once joining Olympiacos.
The Greek club has cashed in on the winger, knowing he was unlikely to ever push towards being a starting player for them.
Had Sporting Kansas City waited until after Olympiacos’ Champions League third-round qualifying tie was settled, perhaps they could have negotiated a cheaper transfer for Andre Luiz. There aren’t too many European clubs capable of spending $22 million on an unproven Andre Luiz currently due cash shortages. With Olympiacos only playing domestic football this season, they will need to reduce the number of players in the squad.
MLS gives Andre Luiz an opportunity
The upside for Andre Luiz is that MLS is seen by many as a stepping stone to bigger leagues. As it stands, moving Stateside is a positive decision. Andre Luiz could either play for lower-tier European teams in Portugal, Greece, or another possibly third-tier league, or he could go to MLS, where scouts from England, Spain, Germany, France, and the Netherlands keep a keen eye on things.
I continue to stand by the argument that Sporting Kansas City should sign a defensive midfielder rather than a winger. However, the club have decided to go for a winger, and I’m not sure that was the original plan going into the summer transfer window.
Sporting still have a long way to go
Andre Luiz still has time to establish himself as a Sporting Kansas City player this season. There are still 16 games left in the campaign. The Wizards are 10 points off the final playoff place in the Western Conference. Nothing has given me confidence this team can make up those 10 points and get into the postseason. Not even adding Andre Luiz.
The best Sporting Kansas City can hope for is that Andre Luiz is fit and firing when the league moves to the summer-to-spring season in 2027-28. Sporting will have had a summer transfer window to help build the squad by then.
That season isn’t far away, just 12 months. Yet, knowing what the Sporting Kansas City team will look like in a year is anyone’s guess.
Is Andre Luiz the right player for the right price for Sporting KC?
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