Marcus Holmgren Pedersen, Torino's 26-year-old right-sided defender, is reportedly close to joining Olympiacos, with the transfer window still open and the granata already having moved on Ivan Ilic to Lecce. The timing is pointed: Torino have just opened their 2026-27 Serie A campaign with a 1-2 home defeat against Milan, and Ignazio Abate's squad is already being reshaped around him.
The significance of Pedersen's potential departure goes beyond one position. Torino sit 13th with no points from their opening match, having conceded twice and scored once against a Milan side making their competitive debut under Ruben Amorim. Losing a first-team defender at this juncture — before the squad has found any rhythm — compounds the structural pressure on Abate rather than relieving it.
Pedersen himself carried a rating of 7.00 across his one Serie A appearance this season, a number that suggests he contributed adequately in a losing effort. His AI overall score sits at 71 out of 100, with a projected ceiling of 74 — figures that describe a reliable, if not transformative, presence at the back. That profile fits the Olympiacos interest: a club looking for a dependable full-back rather than a marquee signing, and a player who may see more consistent European football as a better development environment than a mid-table Serie A side in transition.
For Torino, the arithmetic is uncomfortable. Ilic's exit to Lecce is confirmed. If Pedersen follows, Abate loses two established squad members inside the same transfer window, with the season already underway and the next fixture — against Sassuolo, who are also searching for their first win — arriving quickly.
The club's direction under Abate is still forming. One defeat proves nothing, and a home game against Sassuolo offers an immediate chance to regroup. But squad depth matters when results are thin, and selling from a position of weakness rarely strengthens a negotiating hand. Pedersen's move to Olympiacos, if completed, will tell us as much about Torino's transfer strategy as it does about his own ambitions.