Stanic's Olympiacos move stalls as agents hold up deal

The phone in the Ludogorets office has been ringing for days now, and the answer is always the same: the figure the clubs settled on holds, but the signature is not coming. The paper is on the desk, the pen is right there, and a deal that Greece already treated as done is turning into a saga measured in hours, not minutes. Petar Stanic is still sitting in Razgrad, waiting for the call to Athens.

What began as the move of his career now hangs on a single line in the contract. Olympiacos identified the man they want long ago, Stanic has been keen on the red-and-whites for a while, and the two clubs, by all accounts, understood each other on the money. But between the clubs’ agreement and the player’s signature the intermediaries slipped in, and that is where the whole thing jammed.

Where is the sticking point?

The fee is not the problem. Olympiacos and Ludogorets brought the number to around eight million euros, and with bonuses tied to appearances and qualification it climbs toward nine, even ten million. For a midfielder who left Belgrade just two seasons ago for far less money, that is a serious jump and proof that the Bulgarian spell paid off.

The stumbling block is the personal terms. Stanic’s representatives are asking for annual wages that, for now at least, exceed what Piraeus is willing to spend. The Greeks believe a compromise will be found because both sides want the same outcome, but every day without a signature is a day that opens the door to rivals and to nerves. In stories like this one, it is precisely the intermediaries who tend to stretch out what has long been settled on the pitch.

It is also worth noting that Olympiacos is leaning on a useful contact from within their own ranks. A figure close to the Piraeus club, with experience and influence in Greek football, has reportedly already spoken to Stanic and is trying to persuade him to lower his demands and come. When someone who speaks the language of the dressing room, not just the numbers, enters the picture, deals tend to speed up.

Why is Olympiacos pushing this move so hard?

The answer is in the numbers Stanic carries with him. In the 2025/26 season the midfielder racked up 14 goals and 11 assists across all competitions for Ludogorets, output that turns a holding midfielder into a player you build the attack around. Goals and assists from deep are the currency big clubs hunt, because that profile rarely stays free and rarely comes cheap.

For Olympiacos, who measure their ambitions in Europe every year, bringing in a Serbia international in full flow is a logical step. For Stanic himself, this is a chance to move from the Bulgarian league into a setup that pushes toward elite qualifiers season after season. That is exactly why it is so frustrating that everything has stalled on a detail with nothing to do with football.

Then there is the question of timing. While the agents negotiate, the window does not stop, and the club has other plans it cannot keep on hold forever. The call to Athens and the medical will be the first clear signal that the deal is genuinely near the finish, until then it is all a handshake agreement.

The next move belongs to Stanic’s intermediaries. Do you think common sense wins in the end and the midfielder boards a plane to Athens this week, or are we in for another summer where a good transfer collapses over the fine print?