Former Everton striker Marcus Bent has exclusively told This is Futbol that Eddie Howe might be having doubts over a move to the Scottish Premiership because it’s harder to attract players north of the border.
Howe, who’s been out of work since leaving Bournemouth at the end of last season following their relegation, is expected to be named as Neil Lennon’s replacement at Celtic, although he might not start work until the summer.
Will Celtic sign Howe by next week?
Yes
No
However, recent reports have suggested that Howe is having second thoughts about moving to Glasgow due to the pressure he’ll face from a demanding Celtic Park faithful, especially after their woeful attempts of winning ten in a row.
But Bent thinks his doubts might also been regarding the lack of funds that could be available to Celtic, which will make it harder to revamp the squad and close the gap on champions Rangers.
Lennon made just three permanent signings last summer, spending just under £14m, and coupling in Jeremie Frimpong’s move to Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic’s net-spend was around £2m.
Bent told This is Futbol:
“He’s a good young manager. Celtic for me is a big club, but no disrespect to the Scottish Premiership, it’s a little bit more competitive with Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen in it, but it’s always one club that runs away with it. It’s kind of limited to me.
“Doing what you know and managing a team in a country is England, he knows it in and out. It’s hard to attract players to Celtic and Rangers, even though year in, year out they’re in Europe and have won big trophies.
“I would say Celtic and Rangers would struggle in the Premier League, they would hold themselves in the Championship. I will probably get some stick for this, but they’re not good enough for the Premier League.”