Celtic's 20 year slog that's blown Rangers cash pot out the water as Newcastle United interest in ace assessed

A former Celtic manager says the club will only part with one of their top assets at a premium price - as their path to such riches is discussed.

Gordon Strachan is a former manager at Parkhead and has been keeping a close eye on his ex side in the second reign of manager Brendan Rodgers. One of the club’s top performers, Nicolas Kuhn, has attracted the interest of Newcastle United who are said to have scouted him according to the Daily Mail.

Strachan has watched on as Celtic have posted booming profits while Rangers are forced to slash the wage bill, allowing them to accrue talents such as Kuhn and Arne Engels with high market values. He reckons that has taken two decades of arduous work and Newcastle United better pay top dollar if they want the Celtic winger.

Valuation set by Celtic

Going as far as naming an asking price, Strachan said when speaking to makthavare.se: “They won’t sell at any price. They’ll wait until it makes sense. At 30 million they might say alright, let’s sell. They went big time on Arne Engels, so they have spent. They have probably spent the most they’re willing to so far with Rodgers, because if something goes wrong, they want to be secure.

“I’m not sure how much it would take, but there’s definitely a premium for attacking players. But this is probably how Celtic signed Kuhn. They’d say come for us, play for us, make us successful and have a look at all the players that we have sold on. Do you want to be one of them?

“Now, and if it happens, people shouldn’t tell him he should stay with us. They kind of promise them that they can be a stepping stone to where they next want to be in life. If you want to stay, magnificent, of course. And that's been Celtic's mantra now for 20 years.

“Somebody was saying that Celtic have got X amount of money more than Rangers, but it took 20 years to get that pot of money. It's been hard work for the organisation all the way down. They have earned every right, Celtic.”

Rodgers verdict

So far this term, Kuhn has 18 goals and 13 assists across 41 different matches. Speaking upon signing the winger from Rapid Vienna in 2024, Rodgers told the Celtic website: “We are delighted to welcome Nicolas to Celtic. We believe he is a dynamic player who has an excellent level of quality and all the attributes to fit well into our style of play.

“He has the profile we are looking for, he has a real attacking intent, a player with great pace and ideas, the ability to create and score goals and a player with a great energy and work ethic. He is someone who can play wide on both sides so he brings with him that versatility for us too, and myself and the coaches here really look forward to working with him.”