BT Sport pundit Chris Sutton has slammed Celtic and Rangers fans for their behaviour in a January transfer window which saw big bids rejected for both clubs’ top players.
Celtic’s Moussa Dembele was the subject of concrete interest from the Premier League, but no bid came in that the club thought was appropriate for the man who has scored 41 goals in 72 appearances at Parkhead.
Rangers’ Alfredo Morelos was a late January target for Chinese side Beijing Renhe, who had several bids of up to £8million rejected by the Light Blues.
Sutton has now slammed both club’s fans for suggesting that either player is not worth the speculated amounts, which he believes is detrimental to the Scottish game.
In his column for the Daily Record, Sutton said: “The cranks and crackpots, myself included, who post on social media might not exactly the best barometer for public opinion so you have to take some of the stuff with a pinch of salt. But there are times I read things online and it leaves me absolutely stunned at the levels of stupidity.
“Celtic and Rangers fans go at it constantly but I can’t for the life of me understand why both sets of fans seem to be determined to talk down the value of their rival players. We’re talking about Moussa Dembele and Alfredo Morelos here. Both are in demand and have attracted talk of big money bids. But it you listened to fans of either side of the divide you’d think the pair of them were worth about two bob between then.
“Why the hell are these folk determined to talk down the game in Scotland? Rangers fans spout about the Dembele dollars and scoff about Celtic wanting about £20m for the striker. Likewise Celtic supporters rip in to the suggestions Morelos is an £8m target for clubs in China. It’s just as well the clubs don’t pay any attention to the keyboard warriors because they both are bang on to demand top money for their main men.”
OPINION
Sutton is right in the fact that these attitudes are detrimental to the Scottish game, but the reality is that clubs know a player’s worth and that is not going to be affected by fans’ opinions. Celtic will know that Dembele is worth £20million at the very least, and they are not going to sell him for less because Rangers fans claim that he is not worth that. Same goes for Rangers and Morelos. It is only natural that Rangers fans are going to comment on Celtic transfers, and vice versa. That is just part and parcel of the Old Firm rivalry, and that will never change.