Celtic are likely to open the wallet in January – with a ‘£5m to £10m’ transfer splurge predicted as they look to keep motoring on all fronts.
The Hoops have started the season like a bat out of hell, having dropped points just once in the Premiership, charged to the League Cup final and showing up well in Europe. They’re locked in a tight battle with Aberdeen at the top of the league but a 6-0 hammering of the Dons at Hampden showed why they are heavy favourites to outlast them in the league, while Rangers sit nine further back and at risk of falling out of the conversation altogether.
They spent big in the summer, Matt O’Riley‘s £25m transfer fee reinvested and then some in the likes of Arne Engels (£11m), Adam Idah (£9m) and Auston Trusty £7m). But, according to former Aberdeen chief Keith Wyness, that’s unlikely to be the last of the spending this season.
He told the Inside Track podcast: “We know there’s money. They’ve managed to turn around their performances in Europe, it’s fantastic. There is money in the bank, there’s Champions League money coming in. I do think they’ll open the wallet in January to a degree and try and give Brendan the chance to go further in Europe.
“It won’t be significant. I wouldn’t think it was anything more than £5-10million mid-season. They have proven they can get young talent in. The problem is now getting them acclimatised to European games going forward and get them to a level where they can make the difference at that level.”
Elsewhere Celtic-daft Tottenham star Archie Gray once again made no secret of the fact he’s buzzing to take on Rangers next month – reasserting his love for the Hoops on Spurs’ YouTube channel. The midfielder, son of former Scotland star Andy Gray, was a £30m signing for Ange Postecoglou in the summer, and he was asked on their ‘Driving Home’ web series if he was looking forward to the Europa League trip to Ibrox on December 12.
He said: “My family, Eddie, they’re all from Glasgow, and they all support Celtic so I always follow them and I’m definitely very excited to play Rangers.
Gray was then asked what his folks back home made of his move to work under Postecoglou – and whether they were encouraging of it. “Yeah,” he said with a smile. “And all my family were like that as well, especially Eddie and Frank and my dad (Andy), they were really excited that I’ve got the opportunity to work under him.”