'It made me really want to take the jump to be here,' Greg Taylor

The left-back’s move to Thessaloniki on a free transfer was made official on Tuesday, marking the conclusion of his trophy-laden six-year spell at the Scottish champions.

In an interview with PAOK’s media team on YouTube, Taylor outlined why he chose not to extend his contract with Celtic and opted for a switch to Greece instead: “It’s obviously a new chapter for me and my family, but I’m very excited to be here now,” he said.

“The love I was shown from the club, many of the directors, the manager, they showed that they believed in me and were very excited for me to come to the project with such a historical season, the 100 years of the club.”

“It made me really want to take the jump to be here. We want to be the best team in Greece; we want to win the league and hopefully be successful in Europe. That would be our aim for this season.”

PAOK were dethroned by Olympiacos in the race for last season’s Greek Super League title, just a year after clinching the championship on the final day of the 2023/24 campaign. Taylor’s new team will compete in the Europa League group stages in the coming season.

Taylor said: “Straight away, you can understand that the fans are so patient. It was explained what happened on the last day of the season of 2024, so I can’t wait to play in front of them and see their passion in the stands.”

By joining PAOK, the 27 year-old will reunite with former Celtic right-back Jonjoe Kenny. The Englishman was loaned to the Hoops during the second half of the disastrous 2020/21 season.

“Obviously, Jonjoe signed this season,” said Taylor. We played together at Celtic previously, so it’s nice to have a familiar face in the changing room. But I’m also looking forward to meeting the rest of the guys in the team.”

Conor Spence

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