Celtic: Tom English discuses Celtic’s vulnerability in the transfer market

Chief sports writer for BBC Scotland Tom English recently commented on Celtic’s potential vulnerability in the upcoming transfer market.

Despite being crowned Scottish champions for the ninth time in a row this season, there has recently been talk regarding the uncertainty of several Celtic players’ futures ahead of the upcoming transfer window.

This is likely down to the fact that the Scottish Premiership season was ended early due to the ongoing viral outbreak – which has had a negative impact on the finances of football clubs in Scotland, as well as around the world.

On the topic of Celtic’s finances and potential transfer business this summer, English stated his belief on BBC Scotland’s Sportsound Podcast (33:33) that Celtic may struggle to keep hold of some of their most important players.

He said: “This is not a surprise to Celtic. I spoke to somebody very, very high up at Celtic, months ago, and they said at the outset that this is going to hurt Celtic big-time, that their cash reserves – and they’re a fantastically well run club – but their reserves were under threat, and all the good financial work that they’ve done over the last six, seven, eight, nine years could be largely undone because of this [pandemic].”

“So I mean, their eyes were wide open right from the start. And they were under no illusions that they were immune to this in any way. And I think for Celtic fans, the concern has to be that, if it is pay cuts, what does that mean in the big picture, in terms of trying to retain their big assets? And they’ve got a string of them.”

“Odsonne Edouard is obviously, probably the main one… If he is forced to take a pay cut, and then some club down from England or France comes in for him, are Celtic vulnerable? Are they vulnerable to Callum McGregor? Are they vulnerable for Ryan Christie? All these players, terrific footballers, I mean, outstanding footballers. And that has to be a concern.”

TIF Thoughts…

It is not hard to imagine the scenario, should a player such as Edouard – whose 27 goals and 19 assists in all competitions this season have highly impressed – be forced to take a pay cut at Celtic, and a club comes in for him offering him a higher salary, that the player would prefer to move away from the club.

As such, should English’s comments bear fruit, it would certainly appear not to be good news for Celtic fans.