Rangers rival two English clubs over transfer as in-demand star wanted at Ibrox for Scottish football comeback
Former Hearts and Partick Thistle man has attracted EFL Championship attention
Rangers are falling behind in the race for transfer target James Penrice as English clubs Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough have already ‘made enquiries’ about the AEK Athens defender.
The 27-year old has impressed in the Greek capital since his £2m move from Hearts last summer. He notched 32 appearances in all competitions last season and helped his current club win their 14th Super League title. Rangers had a bid rejected for the left back in January but are reportedly not yet in their pursuit.
Penrice, who also featured for Partick Thistle and Livingston earlier in his career, enjoyed a successful season at Tynecastle before his European switch. During the 2024/25 campaign, he picked up the Player of the Year award at Hearts and was named in the Premiership’s Team of the Season. It was from here that he earned his big money move to AEK, which was given the all-clear by former Hearts and current Rangers boss Derek McInnes.
Former Hearts man ‘appreciated by Rangers’
According to prominent sports broadcaster Ben Jacobs, Penrice remains on the radar of Rangers but they haven’t made any inroads yet. He claimed via X: “Middlesbrough and Blackburn have made enquiries on AEK Athens defender James Penrice. Also appreciated by Rangers, but no approach yet.”
It remains unknown whether the player would be open to a move returning to Scottish football, especially considering AEK Athens will enter the Champions League at the play-off round next month. At the start of his Athens journey this time last year, he admitted it was challenging adjusting to life in Greece, but also enjoyable. He said: "It has been very different, very up and down, but I have enjoyed every minute of it.
“I expected it to be hard, but maybe the moving, the new language, new team-mates, it has taken me time to adjust. It's totally different, but the reason I came to this huge club was to experience things I've not experienced in my career before. Hopefully we can go on and make it a successful first season for me."
Is McInnes pursuing Penrice reunion?
The Rangers boss done everything he could to keep Penrice at Tynecastle last season and was impressed by his attitude despite their limited interaction. However, in the end he couldn’t deny the ‘brilliant money’ for the Jambos and was happy to see the Scotsman grab an exciting opportunity.
On the Penrice transfer he said: "In an ideal world, I'm just in the door, I wanted to work him and have wanted to work with him for a while - but you have got to be fair and understand the situation. We heard he had interest from AEK Athens yesterday and spoke to James about it. At that stage, it was still a long way off in terms of the valuation but late last night we believed that AEK Athens had met the valuation for the club, which is brilliant money back and a great opportunity for James."