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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Mark Pirie

The great Celtic and Rangers transfer study as Ibrox club trail rivals in spending by more than £30m

The Scottish Premiership title fight is set to go all the way this term with Rangers and Celtic battling it out at the top of the table once again this term.

Both Ange Postecoglou and Gio van Bronckhorst insist they have faith in their squads with plenty of rotation needed with Champions League football on the agenda this term as they fight for top spot before the break in league action due to the World Cup in Qatar. But could the title be decided by the recruitment team behind the scenes at both Ibrox and Celtic Park?

There has been big money spent by both Rangers and Celtic over the last two season's with Postecoglou looking to out his own stamp on the Scottish game after taking the Parkhead helm from Neil Lennon. Steven Gerrard walked away last season from the hot seat but Van Bronckhorst and sporting director Ross Wilson have been tasked with the Ibrox transfer business this term.

But where has the money gone? And how much has come back in? Record Sport puts the deals across the Glasgow divide in focus.

Celtic

2021/2022 season

When Ange Postecoglou arrived at Celtic Park he faced a massive rebuild after the disastrous bid to land 10 consecutive Scottish Premiership titles ended in heartbreak. That sparked a huge clear out with captain Scott Brown being followed out of the door by first-team regulars including Odsonne Edouard, Ryan Christie and Kris Ajer. A whopping 17 players arrived across the summer and winter windows at Celtic as they reclaimed the league crown.

Incoming

Liam Shaw (Sheffield Wednesday) - Free

Osaze Urhoghide (Sheffield Wednesday) - Free

Liel Abada (Maccabi Petah Tivka) - £3.6m

Kyogo Furuhashi (Vissel Kobe) - £4.8m

Carl Starfelt (Rubin Kazan) - £4.5m

Joe Hart (Tottenham) - £1m

James McCarthy (Crystal Palace) - Free

Josip Juranovic (Legia Warsaw) - £2.7m

Liam Scales (Shamrock Rovers) - £540k

Giorgios Giakoumakis (VVV Venlo) - £2.1m

Jota (Benfica) - Loan

Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham) - Loan

Daizen Maeda (Yokohama F. Marinos) - Loan

Reo Hatate (Kawasaki Frontale) - £1.4m

Yosuke Ideguchi (Gamba Osaka) - £800k

Johnny Kenny (Sligo Rovers) - £125k

Matt O’Riley (MK Dons) - £1.5m

Total - £25.77m

Outgoing

Scott Brown (Aberdeen) - Free

Jack Hendry (Oostende) - £1.75m

Vakoun Bayo (Toulouse) - £1.4m

Kristoffer Ajer (Brentford) - £14m

Marian Shved (Mechelen) - Undisclosed

Olivier Ntcham (Swansea) - Free

Leigh Griffiths (Dundee) - Loan

Ryan Christie (Bournemouth) - £2.5m

Odsonne Edouard (Crystal Palace) - £14m

Ewan Henderson (Hibs) - Loan

Liam Shaw (Motherwell) - Loan

Leigh Griffiths - Contract Terminated

Conor Hazard (HJK Helsinki) - Loan

Adam Montgomery (Aberdeen) - Loan

Total - £33.65m

2022/2023 season

A year later, the Scottish title pendulum had swung back to Celtic Park with Champions League group stage football guaranteed for the new champions. Ange Postecoglou retained key loanees Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota while adding depth off the back of lifting the Premiership crown and Premier Sports Cup in the previous campaign. The money recouped in transfer fees were significantly down on the previous term.

Incoming

Daizen Maeda (Yokohama F. Marinos) - £1.6m

Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham) - £6m

Benjamin Siegrist (Dundee United) - Free

Alexandro Bernabei (Lanus) - £3.75m

Jota (Benfica) - £6.3m

Aaron Mooy ( Shanghai Port) - Free

Moritz Jenz (Lorient) - Loan

Sead Haksabanovic (Rubin Kazan) - £1.75m

Oliver Abildgaard (Rubin Kazan) - Loan

Total - £19.4m

Outgoing

Tom Rogic (West Brom) - Free

Nir Bitton (Maccabi Tel Aviv) - Free

Vasilias Barkas (Utrecht) - Loan

Liam Scales (Aberdeen) - Loan

Luca Connell (Barnsley) - Free

Osaze Urhoghide (Oostende) - Loan

Ismaila Soro (Arouca) - Loan

Ewan Henderson (Hibs) - Free

Kerr McInroy (Kilmarnock) - Free

Boli Bolingoli (KV Mechelen) - Loan

Karamoko Dembele (Stade Brestois) - Free

Adam Montgomery (St Johnstone) - Loan

Albian Ajeti (Sturm Graz) - Loan

Christopher Jullien (Montpellier) - £1m

Johnny Kenny (Queen’s Park) - Loan

Total - £1m

Rangers

2021/2022 season

The Scottish Premiership trophy was safely secured by Steven Gerrard with the then-Ibrox boss looking to strengthen while the club were on top. However, the wheeling and dealing by sporting director Ross Wilson didn't really appear with small amounts splashed on incoming players before Gerrard's switch to Aston Villa. Gio van Bronckhorst arrived to steer the club to the Europa League final, but there was little spent in January with Aaron Ramsey the big name January arrival on loan from Juventus. However, Nathan Patterson's big money departure to Everton kickstarted the long-awaited player trading model.

Incoming

Fashion Sakala (Oostende) - Free

Nnamdi Ofoborh (Bournemouth) - Free

John Lundstram (Sheffield United) - Free

Charlie McCann (Manchester United) - £750k

Juninho Bacuna (Huddersfield Town) - Free

James Sands in action against Napoli (Getty Images)

Juan Alegria (Honka) - £45k

James Sands (New York City FC) - Loan

Amad Diallo (Manchester United- Loan

Mateusz Zukowski (Lechia Gdansk) - £400k

Aaron Ramsey (Juventus) - Loan

Total - £1.2m

Outgoing

Greg Stewart (Jamshedpur) - Free

Kai Kennedy (Dunfermline) - Loan Kai

George Edmundson (Ipswich) - £750k

Jordan Jones (Wigan Athletic) - £500k

Glenn Middleton (St Johnstone) - Loan

Jake Hastie (Partick Thistle) - Loan

Cedric Itten (Greuther Furth) - Loan

Josh McPake (Tranmere) - Loan

Nathan Patterson (Everton) - £12m

Jermain Defoe (Sunderland) - Free

Stephen Kelly (Salford City) - Loan

Juninho Bacuna (Birmingham City) - Undisclosed

Brandon Barker (Reading) - Free

Total - £13.3m

2022/2023 season

Off the back of reaching the Sevilla final, Gio van Bronckhorst was tasked with bringing Champions League group stage football back to Ibrox. After seeing off PSV Eindhoven in the playoff, significantly less was forked out by the Ibrox higher-ups to fund the European adventure than their rivals Celtic. Ridvan Yilmaz proved to be the most expensive signing of the window. On the other hand, the departure of Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo continued to boost the Rangers coffers.

Incoming

John Souttar (Hearts) - Free

Antonio Colak (PAOK) - £1.8m

Tom Lawrence (Derby) - Free

Rabbi Matondo (Schalke) - £2m

Malik Tillman (Bayern Munich) - Loan

Ben Davies (Liverpool) - £4m

Ridvan Yilmaz (Besiktas) - £5m

Total - £12.8m

Outgoings

Cedric Itten (Young Boys) - £1.55m

Leon Balogun (QPR) - Free

Andy Firth (Connah’s Quay Nomads) - Free

Lewis Mayo (Kilmarnock) - Loan

Jake Hastie (Hartlepool) - Free

Joe Aribo (Southampton) - £6m

Joe Aribo of Southampton (Getty Images)

Kai Kennedy (Falkirk, loan)

Calvin Bassey (Ajax) - £19.6m

Josh McPake (Queen’s Park) - Loan

Glenn Middleton (Dundee United) - Undisclosed

Jack Simpson (Cardiff City) - Free

Mateusz Zukowski (Lech Poznan) - Loan

Nikola Katic (Zurich) - Undisclosed

Total - £27.5m

Rangers net spend between 2020 and 2022 - minus £26.8m

Celtic net spend between 2020 and 2022 - £10.45m

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