Rangers £18million behind Celtic in crucial area despite major sale as – Finance expert
Celtic’s model of player trading is “far more lucrative” than Rangers’ despite a major profit from the sale of Nathan Patterson, according to Kieran Maguire.
The Gers released their accounts for the 2021/22 year on Wednesday (9 November) which notably saw the club break even, but finance expert Maguire has now broken down the report and put it up against the Old Firm rivals.
He has highlighted the fact that both sides of Glasgow are “losing money on a day to day basis” despite record Rangers revenue to June of almost £87million, meaning that making profits from player sales is vital.
To that end, the £12million from the sale of Patterson to Everton in January, potentially rising to £16million, contributed to a player trading profit of £11million, which outstrips the rest of the decade put together at Ibrox.
But despite that huge jump Maguire’s figures show a massive £18million shortfall to Celtic’s £29million profit over the same period, which he notes proves the Hoops’ model of “buy cheap and sell” is “far more lucrative”.
Taking into account all the figures, including one off items such as the compensation received from Aston Villa for Steven Gerrard’s exit, the Light Blues break even which if clearly a good thing, but Celtic end with an operating profit of £6million.
Deficit
There has been a lot of consternation about what money is available at Ibrox considering the large amounts that have been flowing in from European football and player sales in recent months.
While these accounts include the cash brought in from the run to the Europa League final last season, they don’t include major sales over the summer of Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo, or the Champions League money.
There are positive signals, with the self-sustainability of breaking even certainly not to be sniffed at, but the fact that there is a significant gap to Celtic in player trading, leading to the overall deficit in operating profit is a worry when margins are fine at the top of the league.
Since the 55th title win a season and a half ago the Old Firm rivalry has shifted back to the other side of Glasgow, with a seven point gap in the SPFL currently contributing to major pressure on Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
If the club were breaking even up to June then questions will surely be asked about how the Bassey, Aribo and Champions League cash seems to have been swallowed up somewhere else since.
The accounts paint a relatively healthy picture, especially considering the recent history at Rangers, but give some clues as to why Celtic were able to overturn the momentum in Scotland in the previous campaign.
Answers as to why things have fallen apart so badly so far this season, despite significant further financial boosts, are yet to be forthcoming, with the Bhoys threatening to run away with the league already.
In other Rangers news, damning John Lundstram footage shows the game is up at Ibrox for van Bronckhorst.