£20m Newcastle United flop earns rave reviews for 'excellent' performance - his price is going up
As part of Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest's PSR-busting quasi-swap deal, Forest got Elliot Anderson for £35 million, but also got £20 million back and offloaded an unwanted player in Odysseas Vlachodimos.
The Greek goalkeeper wasn't wanted by Newcastle either, though, and he spent almost the entire season on the sidelines, making just one appearance for the Magpies.
In the summer, Spanish side Sevilla came in to rescue the 31-year-old from his Tyneside hell with a loan deal.
By all accounts, Vlachodimos is having a good season for Sevilla, and they are keen to make the move permanent, although the finances could make a move difficult.
Odysseas Vlachodimos impressed for Greece on Saturday
He's clearly feeling confident as he was like a brick wall on Saturday as Scotland peppered his goal in a desperate bid to secure automatic qualification to next year's World Cup, but despite managing to score twice, Vlachodimos made life too difficult for the Scots and Greece won the game 3-2.
The two goals Vlachodimos conceded didn't dampen the rave reviews, however, with Greek outlet SDNA saying he wasn't at fault for either goal and praising his resilience.
“He may have conceded two goals, but he was not responsible for them. He was excellent overall and in the 79th minute he instinctively made the save of the game, proving that he has been in great form lately. He held on to the 3-2 lead in stoppage time.”
Odysseas Vlachodimos clearly doesn't have a career at Newcastle
The Greek stopper made some crucial saves and got some vital touches to keep Scotland at bay, and he won't have harmed his chances of attracting interest for a move away from Newcastle in the summer.
If Sevilla can't stump up the money to make the move work for Newcastle from a PSR perspective, displays like that could tempt another club to do so.
Regardless, it's unlikely he has any kind of future at Newcastle, as Eddie Howe didn't use him when he was available, so he's not going to restore him after a season away.
