Rangers are said to be vying with Celtic with a view to signing Panathinaikos captain, Dimitrios Kourbelis.
That is according to reports in Greece as now widely reported amongst the Scottish press online, with the 29-year old’s contract at the Athens club set to expire at the end of the season.
In his prime, with 30 caps for the Greek national team, at face value Kourbelis is obviously a vastly experienced player with the midfielder having plied his trade with Pana for the last six years. He has appeared in the Europa Conference League this season as well as featuring as a regular during the Nations League campaign for his country throughout 2022 with six appearances, including 90 minutes against Steven Davis’ Northern Ireland as the Greeks topped League C Group 2.
He is said to have turned down a new contract offer from Panathinaikos to remain at the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium but here is where the problem with stories like this lies.
Often, the Old Firm clubs will be used collectively as a label to promote availability or to create headlines. Agent talk. When both clubs are said to be linked without concrete sources or further information, there is always doubt.
Just how often are both clubs actually interested in the same player? Not that often, but links such as this always emerge. It is another name to keep an eye on but not one that immediately suggests that an actual move is imminent.
Kourbelis’ age and profile isn’t one that lends itself to the model that Michael Beale tends to target but sometimes older players, especially, free agents, will complement younger players around them in a squad.
Utter nonsense , we don`t need another guy who has had serious injury problems and Celtic don`t need another defensive midfielder.