Celtic’s interest in James Penrice is complicated by their Champions League play-off round.
As things stand, Penrice’s AEK Athens are one of the Hoops’ potential opponents in the qualifier, which is now in less than a month.
Just like Celtic, the Greek champions do not enter the qualifiers until the play-off, meaning that Penrice will not be cup tied beforehand.
However, it does create a situation where AEK are unlikely to want to strengthen an opponent ahead of potentially facing them in such a crucial tie.
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Celtic face James Penrice’s AEK Athens in the Champions League
The draw for the play-off takes place on Monday 3 August, the day of Celtic’s Scottish Premiership opener against Dundee.
It’s still uncertain whether or not AEK will be seeded for the draw, but they aren’t as it stands, making them a possible opponent for Martin O’Neill’s men.
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Any potential change depends on ties which are currently halfway finished in the 2nd qualifying round.
Going into this round, AEK needed just one of three seeded teams to lose in order to become seeded and avoid a potential tie against Celtic.
However, both Slovan Bratislava and Luis Palma’s Lech Poznan won comfortably in their away first legs, meaning that their only hope is that Dinamo Zagreb lose their second leg to Thun after a 1-1 draw in Switzerland.
Celtic’s other projected opponents currently include Norwegian champions Viking and Austrian champions LASK.
Should Celtic and AEK avoid each other in the draw, the Greek side could still be reluctant to sell Penrice, unless they have an immediate replacement lined up.
The crucial deadline that Hoops must sign players before in order to have them involved in the qualifier is 11PM on August 13.
This is roughly 11 days after the draw is made.
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Antonis Oikonomides: ‘Door open’ for James Penrice to join Celtic
On Wednesday, Greek football expert Antonis Oikonomides revealed that Celtic’s interest in James Penrice is long-held.
He said on Greek show Box 2 Box: “There is an open door, a small window of opportunity for Celtic.
“Let me remind you that Celtic wanted him before he came to AEK from Hearts.
“Because he is on a list for Celtic, who are looking for a player in that position, that’s worth keeping an eye on.”
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