Anastosios Douvikas has left FC Utrecht for La Liga outfit Celta Vigo in a £10 million deal while bringing an end to speculation linking the Greek international with a move to Rangers.
With Sam Lammers, Danilo and Cyriel Dessers all arriving at Ibrox this summer, Mick Beale reinforced his frontline with three players who made their name in the Eredivisie; Lammers shining at Heerenveen, Danilo winning the title with Feyenoord and Dessers breaking the 20-goal barrier at De Kuip.
Anastosios ‘Tasos’ Douvikas, however, always felt a little more ‘unattainable’ than the aforementioned trio. The Rangers linked poacher’s price-tag soaring as rapidly as his reputation after finishing joint-top of the Eredivisie goalscoring charts in 2022/23 (TEAMtalk).
Anastosios Douvikas moves to Spain after Rangers links
“The development that Tasos has undergone in Utrecht is enormous,” says Utrecht’s sporting director Jordy Zuidam. “We’ve seen him get better every month over the past few years.
“He was the first FC Utrecht player ever to become the top scorer in the Eredivisie. A performance that generated a lot of interest for him.
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“In the end, we reached an agreement with Celta de Vigo about the transfer fee involved for Tasos. He is now entering the record books again as the most expensive FC Utrecht player ever.”
Celta Vigo are paying £10 million for Douvikas, reinvesting the fee earned via the mega-money sale of Gabri Veiga to Saudi Arabia. Douvikas follows in the footsteps of former Celtic defender Carl Starfelt at Balaidos, the Swedish centre-back moving to Spain a few weeks earlier.
‘We wish him every success’
“From a sporting perspective, the departure of Tasos is of course a loss,” Zuidam adds. “But it is a very important and valuable transaction for the financial health of the club.
“We thank Tasos for his unbridled commitment to FC Utrecht and wish him every success in Spain. We will talk about him in Utrecht with great admiration and remember him for a long time to come.”