CELTIC have been told they will have to splash £13million if they want to pursue their interest in AEK Athens hitman Levi Garcia.
Ange Postecoglou’s scouts have been monitoring the exciting 18-goal raider, as CQN reported at the beginning of the month.
The champions are among a host of clubs who have been alerted to the form of the pacy Trinidad and Tobago international who joined the Greek giants in a five-year deal around the £2million mark from Beitar Jerusalem in 2020.
IN-DEMAND FRONTMAN…Levi Garcia is attracting attention at AEK Athens.
AEK are looking to cash in on their hottest property and it has been suggested by Sportime media they will hold out for a bid that will see them make a massive profit. They tweeted: “AEK Athens will not consider any offer for their striker Levi García, for less than €15m.”
That works out at around the £13million level and is substantially more than the Hoops’ highest fee of £9million paid to Paris Saint-Germain for striker Odsonne Edouard in the summer of 2018.
The Parkhead scouts watched Garcia in action in the goalless draw against Panathinaikos recently and were accompanied by the likes of Stuttgart, Lazio, Slavia Prague and French pair Bordeaux and Lille in keeping tabs on the 25-year-old flyer.
THE £4.5MILLION MISFIT…Vasilis Barkas in action for FC Utrecht.
The direct attacker, who has netted eight times in 37 international appearances, plays on the right, but favours his left foot with a fair percentage of his strikes coming from cutting inside and letting fly.
The last time Celtic did business with AEK was in July 2020 when they bought Vasilis Barkas at £4.5million, their biggest-ever fee for a keeper.
Unfortunately, the Greek international netminder failed to impress Postecoglou and, after only two first-team games, was loaned to Eredivisie club FC Utrecht for the current season.
