Rangers and Celtic summer spend shared as £16.2m gap emerges
Rangers and Celtic spent a combined £30 million on transfers this summer, but Brendan Rodgers outspent Michael Beale by around £4million, according to a Football Scotland report.
The Scottish publication wrote on its website (13 September) that Celtic spent more on transfers than the Gers’ but thanks to their successful player trading model, Celtic actually made a profit bringing in £11.22million.
On the other hand, they calculated that the Light Blues net spend sits at minus £5m after those in charge at Ibrox backed Beale to the tune of £14.7m as he added nine players to his squad. But through player sales throughout the summer they recouped £9.7million. It means there was a gap of £16.2m in terms of net spend between the two Glasgow giants.
Taking a closer look at the Hoops’ business, they managed to raise nearly £30m through player sales, the vast amount coming through the sale of Jota to Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Ittihad for £25m. Rangers raised the majority of their cash from the sales of Glen Kamara and Fashion Sakala.
Value for money
Before a ball was kicked many were praising Beale’s impressive squad overhaul at Ibrox this summer, with it genuinely appearing as though the Ibrox boss had added several quality additions to his squad having received the backing from the board he was promised.
But after the first four games of the campaign, it is hard to say that the money that has been spent was used wisely and no one other than Jack Butland has impressed particularly since joining the ranks in Glasgow.
The fact that Celtic have managed to keep a relatively strong squad despite being so heavily in profit should offer a lesson for Rangers in how to run a successful football club. The Light Blues allowed Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos to depart as free agents while their rivals were able to raise £25m through the sale of one of their best players.
Neither Kent nor Morelos were likely worth that big a fee but it represents a missed opportunity by Rangers to utilise a player trading model. That sort of structure has served Celtic so well that they now sit comfortably above Rangers this season despite making a profit in the transfer window.
Beale needs his new signings to find their feet and show their worth sooner rather than later, as Rangers won’t be able to throw money at the problem every time the transfer window opens in the hope of catching Celtic.
It also won’t matter how much money the Gers opt to spend each summer, as long as it is less than Rodgers’ team, it will be very hard for the Light Blues to close the gap.
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