Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic scouted Levi Garcia again last weekend with the AEK Athens striker featuring in a colossal Greek Super League clash with title rivals Panathinaikos.
Last season, Olympiakos cruised, almost on auto-pilot, to yet another title. In fact, they have made rather short work of their domestic rivals throughout much of the 21st century, winning the Greek top-flight 19 times since the Millennium.
A genuine title fight, then, will have been very well-received by the neutrals, if not the Olympiakos supporters. As things stand, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens are level at the top with 76 points apiece, both clubs taking full advantage of Olympiakos’ new-found inconsistency.
AEK may have a trump card, too, in the shape of one of the division’s most prolific attackers. Only Cedric Bakambu has more than goals than Garcia’s 14. In all competitions, the Trinidad and Tobago international has 18, plus a further six assists, with his form catching the eye of scouts from all across the continent.
Celtic are watching AEK Athens striker Levi Garcia
According to the Scottish Sun, Celtic watched Garcia score from the spot against Olympiakos in April. The Premiership leaders had representatives in the stands again as AEK and Panathinaikos played out a cagey 0-0 draw on Saturday too.
Greek publication Sport Time report that over 15 clubs had scouts in attendance at the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium; Lazio, Lille and Slavia Prague among them.
It’s unlikely that they were all there to watch Garcia and Garcia alone. But Celtic will no be short of competition in pursuit of an attacker who could add further star quality to a frontline already containing Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Jota, Oh Hyeon-Gyu and Sead Haksabanovic.
A scary thought indeed.
Garcia is a centre-forward by trade but does plenty of good work when drifting out to the right-hand side. With that in mind, the one-time Watford target may be seen at Parkhead as a potential replacement for Liel Abada.
The Israeli winger, according to his former Maccabi Petah Tikva president, is keen on a move away from Celtic this summer.
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