Olympiacos’ Ilan Kebbal pursuit has crossed a new threshold — an €8m offer to Paris FC | OneFootball

The Olympiacos winger search is becoming too broad—and too expensive—to interpret simply as a list of alternatives. Rubén Vargas remains the major left-wing target. Junior Kadile has drawn an €8m proposal.

Krasnodar have reopened discussions for Gelson Martins. And now SPORT24 reports Olympiacos are prepared to spend approximately €8m on Ilan Kebbal.

At some point, those moves stop looking like four versions of the same transaction. They start looking like contingency planning for multiple changes in the attack.

Kebbal solves a different problem from Vargas

Rubén Vargas is much closer to the profile Olympiacos originally identified as the priority:

a winger capable of starting from the left;

attacking the box;

running in transition;

and immediately upgrading the first XI.

Kebbal is different. He is left-footed and primarily operates from the right or central attacking zones.

His game is more about manipulation. Receiving between lines. Dribbling through congestion. Creating combinations. Finding the final pass.

That profile could be extremely useful against Greek opponents who defend with numbers behind the ball.

But it does not directly answer the same positional question Vargas does.

Which makes Gelson’s future increasingly relevant

Olympiacos have rejected Krasnodar before. The Russian champions have now returned. If Gelson remains, spending €8–12m on another player naturally operating from the right becomes harder to understand while the club is simultaneously spending major money on the left. If Gelson leaves, suddenly Kebbal makes much more sense. That could produce a complete reconfiguration: Vargas or another natural left-winger on one side.

Kebbal competing from the right/inside.

Again, there is no source yet saying Olympiacos intend to sign both. But the simultaneous negotiations become much easier to understand if the recruitment team is preparing for an outgoing winger.

Kebbal brings a skill Olympiacos still lack consistently

Saturday against Atromitos was a useful reminder. Olympiacos created chances. They eventually won.

But domestic matches regularly require somebody to break a defense without transition space. Kebbal can do that. His best football comes in congested areas. He receives on the half-turn. He can eliminate a defender through technique rather than pure pace. He can combine centrally with midfielders. That can be extremely valuable when an opponent sits in a 4-5-1 around its penalty area.

The €8m offer is significant because this is not a development gamble

Kebbal is 28. Like Vargas, he would be bought predominantly for immediate footballing return.

There is less runway for Olympiacos to purchase him, develop him for three years and then monetize a major appreciation in value.

So an €8m commitment—and potentially more if Paris FC force negotiations toward €10–12m—requires him to play meaningful minutes immediately. That creates an important question: Would Olympiacos really commit starter-level money to both Vargas and Kebbal?

If the answer is yes, the attack is undergoing a much larger rebuild than previously apparent.

Paris FC are a difficult seller

This is perhaps the biggest obstacle. Paris FC do not need the money. Rosenior has been unusually direct on that subject, saying one of the club’s strengths is precisely that it does not have to sell, and that he expects important players to remain. That fundamentally changes the negotiation. Sevilla want Vargas money. Paris FC appear to want Kebbal the player.

Those are very different seller motivations. Olympiacos may therefore need to pay a premium not simply to reach a valuation but to convince Paris FC to abandon part of their sporting plan.

His opening-day participation reinforces that point

Kebbal played the entire 90 minutes in Paris FC’s 0–0 Ligue 1 opener at Troyes on August 22 and was rated among their more effective players. That is not how a club usually treats a player already halfway out the door.

There is no exclusion from the squad. No protected transfer asset. No coach saying his head is elsewhere. Paris FC are currently using him normally.

That makes this materially harder than the Vargas negotiation, where Sevilla have already removed the Swiss winger from competitive duty because they expect a sale.

SPORT24’s reported €12m demand may even be conservative

There is some variation in the French market reporting. SPORT24 now places Paris FC’s position around €12m.

Earlier French supporter/media discussion built from Le Parisien reporting had figures around €10–15m, while Paris FC supporters were already debating whether even €15m was worth losing one of their main creators.

The exact number therefore remains fluid. The broader conclusion does not: Paris FC are not looking to give Kebbal away.

Olympiacos should resist solving every problem with another eight-figure purchase

This has become the central strategic tension of the rebuild. The club has generated significant transfer revenue. It has committed significant transfer spending. But valuation still matters. Kebbal is good.

Vargas is good. Kadile is interesting.

The question is not whether all of them could help Olympiacos. Almost certainly they could.

The question is which combination produces the greatest marginal improvement relative to cost. If Vargas costs €14–15m and Kebbal requires another €10–12m, Olympiacos are potentially discussing €25m-plus on two prime-age wide attackers before finishing the midfield and right-back. That needs a very clear squad thesis.

There is also a fascinating tactical possibility

If Mendilibar had:

a direct left winger;

Kebbal moving inside from the right;

Tiknizyan overlapping left;

and an aggressive right-back advancing on the opposite side,

Olympiacos could attack domestic low blocks with five or six players across the final line and half-spaces.

Kebbal could function almost like a second No.10. That could give the team a level of interior creativity it currently only receives intermittently from Fortounis, Gustavo Sá or Chiquinho. The cost would again be transition protection. Which brings us back to why Edson Álvarez has suddenly become such an interesting midfield target. The recruitment pieces are connected.

The next threshold needs to come from France

This story has now advanced far enough on the Greek side. Further reports saying Olympiacos “like Kebbal” add nothing. The meaningful next developments would be: Paris FC acknowledge or reject the €8m offer.

Olympiacos increase it. Kebbal gives a clear player-side indication. or Paris FC decide he is formally unavailable.

Until one of those occurs, Kebbal should be classified as:

A concrete, financially backed Olympiacos target — but still a difficult transfer.