Celtic Reignite James Penrice Pursuit After Saracchi Deal Fails

Celtic have reopened their file on James Penrice, the former Hearts left back now starring for Greek champions AEK Athens, after their move for Marcelo Saracchi fell apart over wages. Rangers had been repeatedly linked with a swoop for the 27-year-old this summer. A Greek football insider now says that interest was never real.

The actual trigger sits closer to home. Boca Juniors would not budge on personal terms for Saracchi, leaving Kieran Tierney without proven cover at left back and sending Celtic scouts back toward two familiar names from Scottish football’s lower shelf: Penrice and Dundee United’s Will Ferry.

Celtic Put Penrice Back on the List

Penrice broke through at Hearts during the 2024/25 season, making 46 appearances before completing a reported £2 million move to AEK Athens last summer. He has not been forgotten in Glasgow.

Celtic tracked Penrice before that Greek switch and never fully let go of the file, according to Greek football insider Antonis Oikonomides. He told Sport 24 that the left back remains firmly on Celtic’s shortlist as they hunt competition for Tierney, even with a title medal now sitting in his cabinet.

Why Do Rangers Keep Getting Linked with Penrice?

Rangers surface in almost every Penrice transfer story, but the player’s camp insists there is nothing there this time, and an insider close to the situation says that has been true for over a year. The name resurfaces because of history, not substance.

Rangers have always been a constant, unchanging focal point within this circle of Penrice’s admirers. I didn’t see it happening when we were discussing it during the previous transfer window, I didn’t see it before this one even started, and I don’t see it now that the Rangers name has resurfaced.

Antonis Oikonomides, the Greek football insider, told Sport 24 that Penrice’s representatives deny any contact with Rangers, and that nothing has changed on that front despite the fresh round of speculation. He added that “there is an open door, a small window of opportunity for Celtic,” pointing out the club “wanted him before he came to AEK from Hearts.”

Rangers, for what it is worth, have their own summer priorities elsewhere. The Ibrox club has been in talks over a pre-season friendly against Sparta Prague as they build toward their Europa League qualifying draw, hardly the profile of a club chasing a marquee left back.

The Saracchi Deal Died Over Wages

Saracchi spent last season on loan at Celtic from Boca Juniors and made 27 appearances, playing his part in a domestic double. Manager Martin O’Neill pushed internally as early as February for a permanent deal, and Celtic opened formal talks once his appointment was made permanent in June.

Boca Juniors eventually told Celtic the Uruguayan was available for around €1.5 million (£1.3 million). Celtic never sent back a written offer, unwilling to match his wage demands, and Saracchi grew frustrated enough to post a farewell message to supporters on Instagram confirming his future lay elsewhere.

That left a gap nobody at Celtic Park had planned for. One fan blog, Videocelts, described the club as now calling in transfer favours to plug the hole quickly rather than admit a summer target had slipped through their fingers.

The Injury File Behind the Scramble

Tierney rejoined Celtic permanently in the summer of 2025 on a long-term deal running to 2030, after a pre-contract agreement signed that February. He arrived with baggage.

Data tracked by Soccerway shows Tierney sidelined by at least ten separate spells since March 2023, ranging from thigh and calf strains to a five-month muscle injury through the back half of 2024 and a heel problem as recently as December. He was substituted again in January this year after limping off in a draw at Tynecastle, just days before a Europa League tie against Utrecht.

• Contract: signed permanently in 2025, running to June 2030
• Injury log: at least ten separate spells since March 2023
• Scotland recognition: more than 50 caps, national team captain on multiple occasions

Celtic’s defensive rebuild is not confined to one flank either. The club’s search for a permanent right back has dragged through the same window, adding pressure on recruitment staff already stretched thin by the Saracchi collapse.

From Tynecastle to a Title in Athens

Penrice’s path to a Greek title medal ran through several Scottish clubs before Hearts ever came calling.

1. Broke through at Partick Thistle’s academy before senior loan spells at East Fife and Livingston.
2. Returned to Livingston permanently in 2021 and became a regular top-flight performer over three seasons.
3. Joined Hearts on a free transfer in 2024 and made 46 appearances in 2024/25.
4. Signed for AEK Athens for a reported £2 million in July 2025.

AEK Athens won the Super League Greece title with a 2-1 win over rivals Panathinaikos, their third Super League Greece crown and 14th Greek league title overall, and their first in three years. Penrice made 32 appearances in that debut campaign, an unused substitute the night the title was clinched, and is under contract in Athens until 2028.

Ferry Gives Celtic a Second Tannadice Option

Dundee United’s Will Ferry offers Celtic a second route to the same problem. The Republic of Ireland international turned down a £1.7 million move to a Czech Republic club this summer after United accepted the bid, choosing instead to stay and fight for a bigger move.

The Courier reported that Ferry is among the targets Celtic are considering, with Parkhead scout Tosh McKinlay watching the Ireland international in person on several occasions, including a display against Dundee in which he scored twice and set up the third in a 3-0 win.

Dundee United have already moved to cover themselves regardless of what Ferry decides, bringing in Philadelphia Union’s Philippe Ndinga on loan to add depth at left back. Ferry remains their vice-captain and Tannadice’s reigning Player of the Year.

Celtic Still Has No Bid on the Table

Nothing here is close to done. Celtic have not lodged a formal offer for either player, and both moves depend on selling clubs deciding a sale actually suits them.

• What we know: Saracchi’s Celtic return is off, confirmed by his own statement and Boca Juniors’ wage stance. Rangers have made no confirmed move for Penrice this summer. Ferry has already turned down one offer abroad this window.
• What’s unconfirmed: whether Celtic will table a formal bid for either man, what fee AEK Athens or Dundee United would actually demand, and whether Champions League football changes AEK’s appetite to sell Penrice at all.

Tierney’s deal runs another four years. His body has not always cooperated with that timeline, and that gap is what put two names from Scottish football’s rearview mirror back on Celtic’s desk this July.

Frequently Asked Questions

Has Kieran Tierney played at the 2026 World Cup?

Tierney helped Scotland reach the tournament, scoring a crucial third goal in a 4-2 win over Denmark that sealed qualification. He was capped for the 50th time in June 2025 and has captained the national side since he was 20.

What is Will Ferry’s nationality?

Ferry qualifies for the Republic of Ireland rather than Scotland and won his first senior cap in May 2026, despite spending his entire senior club career in the Scottish Premiership with Dundee United.

Why would AEK Athens be reluctant to sell Penrice cheaply?

Their Super League title has earned AEK a place in next season’s Champions League play off round, giving the club Continental football to plan around and far less incentive to accept a discounted offer for a starting left back.

Has Celtic made a formal bid for Will Ferry?

Not yet. Dundee United are aware of Celtic’s interest, but no bid has been lodged, and Ferry is in the final year of his contract at Tannadice, which adds urgency to any deal before next summer.