Celtic scouts attend high-stakes Greek derby as Levi Garcia asking price is reported

By John McGinley

May 1, 2023

A Celtic scout was in attendance to watch Sunday’s massive derby between Panathinaikos and AEK Athens on Sunday, as the two fierce rivals continue to fight it out for a Super League title.

The fixture ended in a 0-0 stalemate as representatives from Celtic, Stuttgart, Lazio, Bordeaux and Slavia Prague watched on, Greek outlet Sportime has reported.

It is not clear exactly who Celtic were watching – if indeed it was anyone specific. It’s common for the Bhoys to send scouts across Europe to check out the biggest matches and keep an eye on established or emerging talent.

Celtic may have been watching Levi Garcia

While Levi Garcia wasn’t mentioned in this latest report on scouting, Celtic have recently been linked with the AEK Athens attacker. The Trinidad and Tobago international has been in lethal form this season, scoring 18 goals and assisting six times in 34 appearances across all competitions. He started and played all 90 minutes of Sunday’s fixture, earning a positive 7.3 rating on the data-tracking app FotMob.

The Bhoys are expected to again make major moves in the transfer market this summer as Ange Postecoglou prepares the squad for another tilt at the UEFA Champions League group stages. Garcia looks to be the kind of wide, attacking talent that would interest the Celtic boss, but the Bhoys may be priced out.

Sportime journalist Giannis Chorianopoulos has reported that AEK are looking for as much as €15m for the 25-year-old, which is around £13.15m at today’s exchange rate.

Clearly, that’s quite rich for Celtic and it seems unlikely the Bhoys will be forking out that kind of fee on one player this summer, despite currently being on course for a record club revenue.

Nonetheless, it’s worth tracking his situation and the market around him. Often clubs do not get the fees they most desire for players and Celtic have shown strong negotiating skills in recent years.

In other news, Celtic Ultras groups unite to throw weight behind big SWPL 1 title race clash.