Luis Palma appears to be on his way back to Celtic in the summer after failing to make a significant enough impact at Greek Champions Olympiacos…
Luis Palma in action for Olympiacos in action during the UEFA Europa League round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Olympiacos and Bodo/Glimt held at Stadium Georgios Karaiskakis in Piraeus, Greece, 13 March 2025. Photo One Inch Productions
José Luis Mendilibar, the Olympiacos who signed Palma on loan from Celtic in the January transfer window in a deal that included a £3.5m option to buy this summer, has now indicated that the Honduran winger will return to Celtic this summer rather than sign a permanent deal with his club.
A hat-trick in friendly against Sligo Rovers the only highlight
Palma managed just one league start in a competitive match at Celtic in his second season at the club but did net a hat-trick in Ireland doing a friendly against Sligo Rovers last October.
Mid-Season Friendly, Showgrounds, Sligo 9/10/2024 Sligo Rovers vs Celtic Celtic s Luis Palma celebrates with the match ball after scoring a hat trick Luis Palma celebrates with the match ball after scoring a hat trick 9/10/2024 Photo :INPHO/Tom Maher
Brendan Rodgers appeared to lose faith in the player who continually failed to make an impression coming from the bench. Having arrived at Celtic from Greek football, it seemed that a move to title chasing Olympiacos would be an ideal solution playing in a country and conditions perhaps more suited to Palma.
Palma has failed to make an impact at Olympiacos
However the same problems seem to be dogging Palma in Greece with him managing just two starts for Olympiacos and scoring just the one goal. Palma has managed just 18 minutes in the title run-in and didn’t feature at all in the crucial title deciding match with main rivals AEK Athens.
Honduras 2-0 Mexico Luis Palma celebrates his goal 2-0 of Honduras during the Quarterfinals first leg match between Honduras and Mexico as part of the Concacaf Nations League 2024-2025 at Francisco Morazan Stadium on November 15, 2024 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Photo Adrian Macias, IMAGO (The Celtic Star)
Mendilibar has outlined his position on his squad for next season as he eyes progress in the Champions League.
“I have already made my decisions about the players who will stay and who will go at the end of the season. And it will be very difficult for them to change my mind in the remaining games of the season,” Glasgow Times reports.
Luis Palma. Dundee v Celtic. 14th January 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
So it looks like the Olympiacos manager’s mind is made up and for Luis Palma that means heading back to Glasgow to look at working his way back into Brendan Rodgers’ plans, although he too may have made his mind up. With three years left on his contract that transfer window of the summer of 2023 is proving to be problematic and costly for the club.
Hopefully Luis Palma’s agent will be working his contacts book vigorously over the next month or so looking to get the Honduran a move.
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