Chris Sutton says that Celtic must follow the example of Ajax when it comes to their transfers after the Dutch side’s success recently.
The Eredivisie club knocked Real Madrid out of the last-16 of the Champions League after winning 5-3 on aggregate on Tuesday, and Sutton has praised the way they have been wise with their money, with the likes of Frenkie de Jong joining Barcelona at the end of the campaign for £75 million.
The BBC Sport pundit says that the way that Ajax get a return on their investments is a model that Celtic should try and copy – and believes that there is no excuse for the way they have spent £59 million on wages and not really got anything back.
“The transformation in Amsterdam has been incredible. Don’t get me wrong. They don’t go daft on wages but they have spent a lot of money on transfers, with the likes of Daley Blind arriving from Man Utd for £16m, Dusan Tadic coming in from Southampton for £10m,” he said in his Daily Record column.
“They haven’t coughed up outrageous sums though. Instead they have been wise with their money and will get a return on their investments, with the likes of Frenkie de Jong heading to Barcelona for £75m at the end of the campaign.
“But this is the model Celtic should be aspiring to replicate in Scotland. There is no excuses for spending £59m on wages and not getting value for money and it goes back to the structure throughout the club.”
OPINION
Nearly everybody has been in awe of how well Ajax have done recently, and that is no surprise given the manner in which they knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League. They have not been an European superpower in recent times, with the likes of Barcelona taking over, but they have shown that with the right structure, you can succeed. Sutton is right to say that the Hoops should be following this example, because if they did, they could be having a go of it in the Champions League themselves. Like he pointed out, they have spent a lot of money, but they will be getting a return on that cash when De Jong moves in the summer. Just think of what Celtic could be like if they had this thinking? He is right to slam the way that they have been paying £59 million in wages and not getting their value for money – after all, it is clear that they are not. They were outplayed by Valencia in the Europa League, and this is not good enough from a side who have this sort of money to spend.