How Celtic have blown Rangers away financially after Ibrox ‘crisis’
Celtic continue to post strong financial results after dominating the Scottish Premiership ahead of Rangers in recent years.
Celtic were expected to smash their club-record revenue following their exploits in the Champions League last season, where they reached the knock-out round play-offs before being narrowly beaten by Bayern Munich.
The Scottish champions posted their accounts for 2024-25 on 19 September, revealing their revenue increased from £124.6million in 2023-24 to £143.6m last season.
Celtic’s net spend on transfers was just over £7m, with £31.5m of their £38.6m worth of spending recouped by player sales.
Meanwhile, Rangers have previously been criticised for their sales after failing to make money on several players in recent years.
What was Celtic’s biggest sale last season?
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Celtic have outperformed Rangers in terms of player sales over the past few years.
Celtic’s biggest sale of last season was Matt O’Riley after the midfielder joined Brighton for around £25m, while Sam Lammers’s £1.7m move to FC Twente was the highest fee Rangers received.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about Celtic’s accounts, Borson said: “If you go through the player sales trend, they’ve actually done a lot better than Rangers over the years.
“Rangers have had a real crisis on this side of things where they’ve made £48m in the last 10 years, and Celtic have done now after this £140m of player-trading profit.
“But if you look at let’s say the last five years, you’ve had £9m, £29m, £14m, £7m and now the £31m. It’s just that they need to be a bit more consistent in the player trading.”
In terms of other key financials within their accounts, Celtic recorded a £33.9m profit after tax and went into the latest summer transfer window with £77.3m of cash assets.
Celtic are ‘well run’ despite fan criticism
Celtic fans have been critical of the club’s board after failing to back Brendan Rodgers substantially in the summer window.
Borson said: “If you can get consistent in the player trading and you can get yourself with effectively an option each year on the Champions League, then the numbers are going to be interesting for Celtic, and they should be able to pull away and be able to invest more.
“I think they’re run in quite a cautious, sensible way, but obviously the fans want more. I guess there’s an attraction not to overdo it given that they don’t need to in the Scottish Premiership.
“If you look at the headline wages to turnover, it is 53 per cent for last year. They’re well run. It’s just not what fans want to hear.
“The fans are not really that bothered about discipline. Everybody wants to see ambition when really ambition is just simply please go and spend loads of money.”
Celtic have picked up 14 points from their opening six games of the new Scottish Premiership season, while they drew 1-1 with Red Star Belgrade in their opening Europa League match last week.
For more Celtic news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.