Afellay joins Olympiacos on loan

Barcelona have confirmed that their Dutch midfielder Ibrahim Afellay has joined Superleague Greece club Olympiacos on a season-long loan yesterday.

The initial deal lasts upto June 2015, but the club have an option of extending the 28-year-old’s contract further by two years.

Afellay, who progressed through the youth system of Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven, joined the Catalan club in 2011 on a four-and-a-half year contract after 217 appearances for the Red and Whites.

After missing out on action for seven months due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2011, the player failed to cement his place in the Spanish club’s line up and was sent out on loan to Bundesliga side Schalke in 2012.

With 4 goals and 15 appearances with the Royal Blues to his name, he returned to Camp Nou in 2013. But with constant injuries troubling him once again, Afellay, who has been capped 44 times for the Netherlands, failed to feature in the first team under Tata Martino.

He would now be hoping to star with the Legends, as they play their first game against Niki Volos on 24th August in an attempt to defend the league title.