James Penrice is a familiar name in Scottish football.
Prior to his move to AEK Athens last summer, he had spent his entire career in Scotland with Partick Thistle, Livingston and Hearts.
Penrice has now been the subject of an enquiry from Celtic, who are in need of a replacement for Marcelo Saracchi.
Earlier this season, he reflected on facing Celtic in Scotland, naming Tom Rogic as the best player he played against.
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James Penrice on Tom Rogic: ‘He was unbelievable’
Penrice welcomed Paul Slane on a visit to the Greek capital back in October, where he was asked a few quickfire questions.
Asked the best player he had faced in his career, Penrice said: “In Scotland? Rogic. Rogic was unbelievable.”
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He was also bizarrely asked by Slane who his Greek idol was, naming Georgios Samaras in a tongue-in-cheek answer.
Finally, asked to name his favourite game of his career so far, Penrice replied: “Ange’s first game against Livi.
“We beat them 1-0, I played left-wing. Beat them 1-0. We were terrible, and all!”
Penrice references Livi’s 1-0 win over Celtic in September 2021, which was Postecoglou’s third defeat in his first three Scottish Premiership matches.
From that point on, Celtic didn’t lose another league match for the rest of the season as they delivered an unlikely league title on 93 points.
It’s also Penrice’s only career win against Celtic – he has lost the other 13 of his 14 career clashes against the Hoops.
On his future aspirations, he went on to tell Slane: “The thing I’m focusing on just now is to make that spot in the team mine.
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“I’ve played a good couple of games, I’ve been in and out. But I think now is to try and make that spot mine, hopefully keep progressing and go as high as possible.”
He finished the season on just less than 2,000 minutes, a solid total but not that of a first-choice left-back.
The 27-year-old was brought to Greece for a fee of £2 million last summer, having moved to Tynecastle on a free transfer just a month earlier.
He was also the subject of a bid from Rangers in January; Danny Rohl was a big fan. The offer was firmly rejected by AEK.
He has two seasons’ European experience, having featured in the Conference League for Hearts prior to appearing in the competition for AEK this season.
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