Celtic are scouting AEK Athens star Levi Garcia ahead of a potential move for the forward this close-season. Scottish Sun are reporting that the club had scouts in attendance at the Greek club’s match against Olympiacos last Sunday, with the left-sided attacker scoring from the penalty spot during a 3-1 win which put them joint top of the Greek League.
At 25-year-old, the Trinidad and Tobago player has scored 8 goals in 36 appearances for his country and has managed 18 strikes this season for Athens too. The 6ft wideman is said to be powerful and is being viewed by Ange Postecoglou and his scouting team as a possible replacement for the highly sought after Israeli international Liel Abada.
The report also states that Garcia signed for the Greek outfit back in 2020, with a fee of £1.9 million paid to his club Beitar Jerusalem funnily enough, where he signed a four-year-deal with AEK after arriving from the Israeli club. Presumably Celtic would have to pay considerably more for him than that with two years of that deal still left to run, according to the report.
Abada has refused to sign a contract extension with the Hoops and the club are reportedly looking likely to cash in on the hitman, rather than let his value drop in the coming seasons. Contracted to 2026, Celtic could command up to three or four times what he cost back in 2021, when we paid Maccabi Petah Tikva £3.5 million for the goalscoring winger’s services.
Paul Gillespie
