Celtic target Ross Barkley’s wages would be a major problem for the club if he signed for the Scottish champions.
That is according to journalist Pete O’Rourke, who was speaking to This is Futbol about the latest at Celtic Park, ahead of the final few weeks of the transfer window.
According to Mark Hendry, the links between the Glasgow giants and Barkley could simply just be rumours.
The Chelsea man’s future at Stamford Bridge looks to be over, with the former Everton midfielder not receiving a squad number for the west London side’s campaign this season.
And O’Rourke believes that if Barkley was to sign for Ange Postecoglou’s side, then Chelsea would need to pay a large portion of the midfielder’s wages, due to his astronomical salary, reported to be at £100k-per-week according to Salary Sport.
“His wages could be a major issue for Celtic if they were to sign him, so Chelsea would need to be paying a huge chunk of those.
“I think if any move was to happen then is he a player that would fit into Ange Postecoglou’s plans as well?
“There is a question mark over that.”
TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments
Whilst we believe that Barkley would be an exciting signing for Celtic, it seems unlikely that the club would be in a position to afford the midfielder’s wages, even if Chelsea do contribute to a certain percentage of them.
According to Salary Sport, Celtic’s highest earner is midfielder Callum McGregor who is on a reported £30k-per-week, which is a reported £70k-per-week less than Barkley.
We think that the chances of Chelsea paying at least £70k-per-week to Barkley, who has been previously been dubbed as a “diamond” of a player by Trevor Sinclair, when he is no longer playing for the club is fanciful, and therefore we cannot see a situation in which Barkley is playing his football at Celtic Park come the end of the transfer window.