Former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich attacking midfielder James Rodríguez has joined Olympiakos, the Greek club said Thursday.
The 31-year-old Colombian footballer will be reunited with former Real Madrid teammate Marcelo Vieira, who signed with Olympiakos earlier this month.
New Olympiakos team members Rodriguez and Vieira were cheered on by over 35,000 fans after appearing at Giorgos Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus to watch their team take on Freiburg in the Europa League.
In the moments before the game commenced, Rodriguez held up his No. 10 Olympiakos jersey to the crowd, who chanted, “He´s here. He´s here!” and “James Rodríguez!”
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Officials from the Greek club Olympiakos said that Rodriguez, who had moved from Qatar club Al-Rayyan, signed a one-year agreement with an option to extend the deal for 12 months.
Al-Rayyan had officially terminated his previous contract just shortly before Thursday’s announcement.
“This is a new chapter in my life and I’m very excited about it,” Rodriguez told media.
“It was a difficult decision but a good decision.”
Olympiakos is the fifth club for the footballer, since scoring six goals for his country Colombia at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Rodriguez has made 86 appearances for Colombia and scored 24 goals, but his club career has often failed to match his national team success. His 11-year run at major European clubs ended in 2021 with a lacklustre spell in the Premier League at Everton.
Olympiakos, which failed to reach the Champions League this season, is in third place in the Greek league with eight points, four behind leader Panathinaikos.
