English Premier League: Albert Riera going to Olympiakos
Riera is all set to switch clubs and go to Olympiakos after branding Liverpool, his current employers as a “sinking ship”. Riera started his career with his home town club, RCD Mallorca. In his first two seasons at Mallorca he only managed to make eleven La Liga appearances.
However, in the 2002-2003 season, Riera cemented his place as a winger in the Spanish club’s starting lineup. Riera performed quite admirably as he scored four goals in the league in thirty five appearances and also helped Mallorca to the Spanish Cup title.
During the 2003 summer transfer window, Riera parted ways with Mallorca and signed with Bordeaux. From 2003-2005, he made more than fifty league appearances and scored four goals. He returned back to Spain soon after, as he joined Espanyol in 2005. Riera featured sparingly for the Catalan club and only managed to make eight league appearances during his first season at the club.
In January 2006, Manchester City took Riera on loan from his original club Espanyol and paid his wages for the rest of the season. Riera again failed to make an impact in England and only scored a single for Manchester City during their English Premier League tie against Newcastle United.
He returned back to Espanyol for the 2006-2007 season and did remarkably well for the club. Espanyol made it to the UEFA Cup final against their fellow Spanish rivals Sevilla. Riera started for the Catalans in the final match of the tournament and even scored during the match to bring Espanyol back into the game when they were losing by a goal to nil.
Espanyol eventually lost the UEFA Cup final on penalties but Riera did enough to impress the club who granted him a contract extension till the 2011 season. Despite signing an extension to his contract, Riera secured a move away from Espanyol to Liverpool on 1st of September 2008, the last day of the summer transfer window.
Liverpool offered Riera the number eight jersey and a four year deal. Riera accepted the offer and his transfer fee amounted to 8 million pounds. The Spanish winger made his league debut for Liverpool as he played in the North England derby between Manchester United and Liverpool but as the season progressed Riera got less and less game time and his frustration levels increased.
Riera annoyed by the lack of football that he was getting at Liverpool and also with the dearth of success at the club, publically criticized his employers. He branded Liverpool as a sinking ship and said that Rafael Benitez, who was Liverpool’s manager at the time, never tried to solve a situation by addressing the player involved.
Riera now looks to be on his way out of England as Liverpool’s new manager Roy Hodgson said that, Riera is currently in talks with Olympiakos. Olympiakos’s manager Ewald Lienen has also come out and said that bar any surprises, he expects Riera to be an Olympiakos player next season. He also added that, Riera is a proven footballer who has performed at the International level as well as the club level of football.
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