A behind-the-scenes power play is currently unfolding at AEK Athens, with the club actively trying to ‘push’ Rangers target James Penrice out the door this summer in a bid to save corporate face.
The 27-year-old left-back has found himself on Rangers’ defensive transfer shortlist, alongside a trio of Championship suitors in Middlesbrough, Norwich City and Blackburn Rovers.
While the widespread UK interest in the former Hearts standout is well documented, the real theatre is taking place within the high-level boardroom offices in the Greek capital.
According to a revealing inside perspective filtering out from the independent Greek agent market, as reported by Sport Dog, AEK Athens are orchestrating a silent operation to manufacture a market for the defender, ensuring a highly political win-win scenario before the window shuts.
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Rangers watch as AEK Athens director of football tries to save face
On the surface, the Greek Super League champions are projecting a position of complete calm, maintaining that they are not actively shopping for a new left-back. However, the institutional reality is heavily dictated by club politics.
Penrice arrived in Athens last summer in a highly publicised £2million transfer heavily driven by director of football Javier Ribalta.
Yet, despite the significant price tag, the Scot struggled to cement his place in the starting XI, often playing second-fiddle to Albania international Stavro Pilo.
Leaving a £2m marquee signing on the bench is a terrible look for any executive.
To protect his scouting reputation from being stained with a costly transfer blunder, Ribalta has quietly begun pulling strings to aggressively shift Penrice on.
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By privately driving interest from Rangers, Celtic and the EFL Championship, AEK Athens are attempting to engineer a swift bidding war.
If they can successfully flip the defender for a fee slightly higher than their original £2m expenditure, the narrative completely changes.
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Ribalta’s costly gamble can be publicly spun as a profitable business venture rather than a scouting failure, keeping his institutional standing entirely unblemished.
More crucially for the Greeks, pocketing that sudden influx of liquid cash allows them to re-enter the market in August to secure a heavyweight, premium left-back to significantly upgrade the squad.
With the Athens boardroom deliberately greasing the wheels to clear Penrice out of the building, Rangers have been handed a golden, drama-fuelled invitation to swoop in and land a new left-back to compete against Tuur Rommens.
