Gil Dias arrived at Nottingham Forest last summer being regarded as one of Portugal’s brightest young talents.
The winger struggled to deliver on that potential at the City Ground, however. But he seems to be showing exactly what he is capable of since switching to Olympiacos.
The 22-year-old scored an absolute rocket for the Greek club on Thursday night as they drew 2-2 at home to Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League.
With five minutes to go in the first half, the visitors struggled to clear a free-kick and the ball fell perfectly for Dias, about 30 yards from goal.
He chested it down before striking a sumptuous half-volley into the back of the net, with the Kiev keeper well beaten.
It comes after he had marked his first start for Olympiacos with a goal against PAS Lamia in the Greek Cup earlier this month.
After his screamer, Dias wrote on Instagram: “Not the best result but everything is open for the second game. Good feeling with my 1 goal in @europaleague Thankyou all for your amazing support.”
By comparison, the Portugal Under-21 international scored just once in 24 appearances for the Reds during his loan spell in the first half of the season – in the 3-1 Carabao Cup victory over Newcastle United in August.
He was largely restricted to a substitutes’ role, including a forgettable cameo in the 3-3 draw at Norwich City on Boxing Day.
His loan deal from Monaco was terminated in January and he instead headed to Olympiacos, who, like Forest, are owned by Evangelos Marinakis, for the remainder of the campaign.
His latest strike, though, did get Reds fans talking on Twitter.
Do you think Forest should have kept hold of Dias? Have your say in our poll.
