Former Celtic star Davie Provan has claimed the Celtic transfer record will remain unbroken unless Steven Gerrard is a success at Rangers.
The Liverpool legend was named as Graeme Murty’s replacement on Friday, and has signed a four-year deal to take over at Ibrox from this summer.
Critics have labelled the move a massive risk for Rangers considering Gerrard’s lack of experience, and Provan has now boldly claimed that Celtic fans should hope Gerrard is a success in order to get Peter Lawwell to loosen the purse strings.
In a column for the Scottish Sun, he said: “The chances of Steven Gerrard making Rangers title challengers next season are almost non-existent. But every Celtic fan should be hoping he cracks it at Ibrox. If Gerrard makes Rangers a threat, Celtic will have to respond. It would be the kick up the backside this Celtic board needs.
“With season tickets to be flogged, Celts are floating the idea of meeting PSG’s price for Odsonne Edouard. I’ll believe it when I see it. If the board’s job is to put the best possible Celtic team on the pitch, punters are being short-changed. The ritual slaughter of Rangers should fool nobody. Peter Lawwell should be breaking the bank to keep Edouard. But it’s more likely the record £6million transfer fee paid for John Hartson 17 years ago will remain unbroken.
“As long as Celtic remain unthreatened by Rangers, Lawwell will spend the bare minimum.”
OPINION
This is certainly an interesting take on the situation from Provan, and you can see where he is coming from. This uneven competition at the top of the league is helping no one, including Celtic. Their unwillingness to really splash the cash due to their domestic dominance is seeing them fail again and again in Europe, and that is the next step for the club. As long as Rangers aren’t providing decent competition, Celtic will continue to operate well within their means. The fact that they still haven’t broken their transfer record, which has stood at £6million for 17 years now, is ridiculous. Celtic’s recent financial returns could see them easily double that, but they continue to do deals on the cheap. The Edouard situation will certainly be an acid test for the board this summer, with PSG wanting around £7million for the 20-year-old. It is clear he is worth the money, and so if the board refuse to pay up, it will be a damning indictment of their negative decision-making.