Club criticised for selling player to Nottingham Forest – Fans want him back

Back in the summer window, Odysseas Vlachodimos was edged out of Benfica and sold to Nottingham Forest.

Despite being a starter for the Eagles for years, he was suddenly dropped by manager Roger Schmidt, and with a transfer being the obvious way out, the Tricky Trees took advantage of the situation and bought him for only €4.9m.

 

It turns out that Vlachodimos is today very much mentioned in the Portuguese media. One of the stories comes from newspaper O Jogo.

 

It all starts because Anatoliy Trubin, who’s just arrived at Benfica following a €10m move from Shakhtar Donetsk, has been having a poor start at the Lisbon side.

 

O Jogo then highlights the words from Bruno Costa Carvalho, who had run Benfica’s presidency, saying Vlachodimos shouldn’t have gone to Nottingham Forest: “The 90% of Benfica fans who spoke badly of Vlachodimos should be ashamed of what they said. I was one of the few who always defended him.”

Meanwhile, newspaper Jornal de Notícias highlights quotes from former goalkeeper José Bizarro: “Odysseas Vlachodimos was more of a victim than a defendant. In five years, he gave more to Benfica than he took away. More than half of Benfica fans probably agree with me.”

All Portuguese outlets today point out that Benfica fans have been filling Vlachodimos’ social media with messages saying he should return from Nottingham Forest.

 

The goalkeeper hasn’t even made his debut for the Reds yet, as he stayed on the bench in the match against Burnley.