James Penrice has finally realised his "dream" of signing for Rangers after a spell in the academy as a youngster and just missing out on a move in January.
The former Hearts, Livingston and Partick Thistle left-back was confirmed as the tenth summer arrival at Ibrox, on a loan with an option to buy. Rangers will pay AEK Athens £1.75 million next summer should they decide to take that option up.
Manager Derek McInnes had been open about the urgent need to strengthen at left-back following Tuur Rommens' hamstring injury which will keep the Belgian out for several weeks. He had already needed cover in the position before that blow.
Reacting to his arrival, Penrice told Rangers TV: "It's a bit surreal. It's been a long time since I came through the building at Murray Park. But I'm delighted to finally get it done. It's been a hell of a couple of weeks, but it's done now."
Expanding on his time in the youth system, he added: "It wasn't too long to be fair. I was very young. It ended up not working out. At that age, that's what happens with football. But that's back then and and the focus is on the here and now. So I'm delighted."
For a lot of kids growing up in Scotland, playing for a club the size of Rangers would be the ultimate dream. Penrice is no different.
Asked if he feels like he is realising a boyhood dream, he responded: "Oh, absolutely. It's somewhere where at the start of my career I could only have dreamt of coming to play. So to get the chance now to represent the club, it's definitely a dream."
The 27-year-old was only in Greece for a year after joining the capital side in a £2 million deal from Hearts last summer.
He was in and out of the team but played plenty of games to help AEK to the Super League title. However, he has revealed he was close to a move to Ibrox back in January, just six months into his only season in Greece.
"January was spoken about. It was quite close. It ended up not working out. There were certain reasons for that, but as soon as it came to the summer and there was a wee sniff, my full focus was on trying to get that done, so it's been a hectic couple of weeks.
"My family are probably more relieved than me. They've had to put up with me for a couple of weeks. It's been a whirlwind couple of days, but I'm just delighted and buzzing," he said.
Penrice played with his new teammates Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin at Hearts, and knows some of the other squad members after playing against them.
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The connections don't stop there though, as he was handed his Partick Thistle debut back in 2016 by one of McInnes' coaches, Alan Archibald.
"Many many years ago, but Archie was the first one that showed the faith in me when I was really young," he recalls.
"He put me into the first team and gave me a number of starts. I've always had great admiration for him because he did that and he showed faith in me.
"So it's good to have a couple more friendly faces in the building."
He comes to Ibrox as a player whose career has continued in an upward trajectory - from Thistle to Livingston and then Hearts, where he was the club's player of the year, before that league title success out in Greece.
Therefore, he returns to Scotland with the confidence he can carry on that momentum and have an impact.
"I was in a real good vein of form at Hearts," he admitted.
"It was a very good personal season but at the same time, I had to go and take the jump. I couldn't turn down a chance to play with AEK, and I'm thankful I did that.
"It was an unbelievable experience to win a league as well. It's something some players go through a full career and don't get that.
"So I'm very thankful for them. I think my time there was very successful. So it was a brilliant experience."
He is under no illusions that the expectation will be to be adding more trophies to his collection, adding: "There's no shying away and I've been obviously involved in Scotland for a while and you know what comes with the name.
"It's a massive club and there is only one objective - to win stuff. And when you don't, there comes the pressure. So I'm fully aware of what is expected here."
