Manager wants Celtic to join English Premier League

By IANS

Glasgow : Gordon Strachan has revealed that he would like to see the Scottish league and cup holders Celtic play in the English Premier League.


Support TwoCircles

In an interview with Soccernet the Celtic manger said there was an "imbalance" between the English and Scottish leagues and given the amount of money in the English game, Celtic could win the title if they were brought into the English Premier League (EPL).

"The English clubs get between 33 and 50 million pounds each for playing in the UEFA Champions League. We get a million pounds in Scotland. So there's an imbalance there, which we can understand, because the English league is the most exciting in the world," he said.

"The best leagues should get the best money and you have to deal with that," he added.

Strachan cited the huge amounts of money spent on transfers as one of the reasons that Celtic had not progressed beyond the quarterfinals of the European competitions, but did not see that as an obstacle for future success.

"People are buying players for 20 and 25 million pounds in England and Italy. In Scotland, our maximum is four million pounds," he said.

"It's a young side we've got, but we think we can mould them together and take on the best sides in Europe."

With the financial rewards of a place in England's top flight obvious, Strachan would see a move into the EPL as a positive step.

"With that kind of money, we could win the Premier League with the players we'd be able to bring in," he said.

"With the support we've got, not only the 60,000 that turn up at every game, but the away support that we've got and the revenue we could create. We could be one of the teams that could win that. After a few years, obviously, but I think it's a long way off.

"And as long as it didn't affect the rest – the league that you left behind. You would have to make sure that you're stabilized and financially secured and that league could go on and flourish as well. I'm sure that might help them as well," he added.

SUPPORT TWOCIRCLES HELP SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND NON-PROFIT MEDIA. DONATE HERE