Marinakis special sparks legal mess – Nottingham Forest owner faces arbitration after rejected €20m bid

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is now facing a formal arbitration challenge after admitting he rejected significantly higher bids for André Luiz before completing a €6.5m (£5.6m) internal transfer. The report comes from Renascença in Portugal.

The Brazilian winger moved in January from Rio Ave to Olympiacos. Both clubs sit under Marinakis’ multi-club structure. However, the situation has escalated after Estrela da Amadora confirmed it will take the case to Portugal’s court. The dispute centres on value.

Marinakis told Olympiacos players he had received offers of around €20m (£17.1m) for André Luiz from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Benfica. Despite that, he chose to move the player from Rio Ave to Olympiacos for €6.5m (£5.6m).

“I had proposals of close to €20m for André Luiz, from Wolves and Benfica. But I wanted Olympiacos to become stronger,” he said, as we previously covered.

10% clause triggers legal move

Estrela da Amadora hold 10% of a future transfer fee for André Luiz. Therefore, the difference between €20m and €6.5m has major financial consequences.

In a statement, Estrela raised “serious and legitimate concerns” about the transaction. The club stated that if higher proposals genuinely existed, selling for a lower amount directly reduced revenue to which they were entitled.

The statement also questioned whether the economic interests of Rio Ave and its contractual partners were fully safeguarded.

Estrela further argued that multi-club ownership “cannot, under any circumstances, compromise transparency, economic fairness, the protection of third parties contractually involved or the credibility of national competitions.”

The club has now confirmed it will seek arbitration. It will also request full access to documentation surrounding the operation. In addition, it reserved the right to report public facts to relevant authorities if further investigation proves necessary.

Multi-club model under spotlight

Marinakis controls Nottingham Forest, Rio Ave and Olympiacos. In this case, he rejected a Premier League-level bid and instead strengthened the Greek side internally.

The move may have made sporting sense for Olympiacos. However, it now places his ownership structure under legal scrutiny in Portugal.

For Forest, the issue does not involve a direct transaction. Still, the controversy touches their owner and raises broader questions about governance within multi-club networks.

Whether the arbitration process leads to financial consequences remains unclear. What is certain is that a rejected €20m Premier League bid has now triggered a formal legal battle.