Hearts' Penrice completes 'life-changing' AEK move

James Penrice

Hearts have confirmed that left-back James Penrice has completed a deal to make a "life-changing move" to Greek side AEK Athens.

The 26-year-old, who arrived at Tynecastle from Livingston last June, will complete the switch once international clearance and Scottish FA approval is granted.

Penrice completed his medical on Friday in the Netherlands - where AEK are based for a pre-season training - after leaving Hearts' camp in Spain and the Greek club have welcomed their new signing on social media.

On Friday, Hearts manager Derek McInnes said the transfer was a "great opportunity" for the Scot and represented "brilliant money" for the club.

Penrice had impressed in what proved to be an otherwise disappointing season for Hearts as they finished in the bottom six in the Scottish Premiership.

He made 46 appearances, scoring twice, after joining under freedom of contract.

His performances earned him both the players' and fans' player of the year awards, as well as a spot in the PFA Scotland team of the year.

"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," McInnes told Hearts TV before the deal was completed.

"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."

Penrice began his career with Partick Thistle and, after a loan spell at East Fife, joined Livingston on a permanent deal in the summer of 2021.

His performances for the West Lothian side alerted Hearts to his talents and he signed a three-year deal when moving to Tynecastle last summer.

Penrice becomes the second Scot to move to Greece this month after Scotland left-back Greg Taylor's move from Celtic to PAOK in Thessaloniki.