Nottingham Forest have been handed a major boost in their efforts to hold on to midfield ace Joao Carvalho.
Greek giants Olympiacos, owned by Evangelos Marinakis, were said to be interested in making a swoop for the 22-year-old who became Forest's club record signing 12 months ago.
The deal would have seen Carvalho follow Hilal Soudani in making the permanent switch to the Karaiskakis Stadium, while allowing Reds boss Martin O'Neill the funds to make some hefty summer spending.
The Athens club were targeting the midfielder as a direct replacement for Greece international Kostas Fortounis.
After a five-year spell, the former Kaiserslautern star looked set to leave with the likes of Premier League West Ham United circling for his signature.
But now Greek station Sport24 Radio have reported that the 26-year-old has made a verbal agreement to stay with Olympiacos and sign a new four-year-deal.
And the two parties have arranged a meeting to finalise the deal that will see Fortounis put pen to paper of a six million euro contract, bringing to an end their pursuit of Forest's number 10.
Concern was growing amongst City Ground fans that Carvalho would be making an exit this summer.
The former Benfica man made 40 appearances for Forest during his debut season in Garibaldi, scoring four and racking up eight assists on his way to become a much adored figure on the banks of the Trent.
On Tuesday, Soudani arrived in Greece to complete his move while Claudio Yacob and Yohan Benalouane were both linked with replicating that same move yesterday.
