Celtic told they've landed a Champions League upgrade as Rangers warned over possible UEFA punishment
The latest headlines from Premiership heavyweights Celtic and Rangers
Scottish champions Celtic are in scintillating form, both domestically where they sit top of the table with a near perfect 10 wins and one draw from 11 matches, and in Europe where they have also managed seven Champions League points from a possible 12, leaving them on course to achieve a play-off finish at the half-way stage of the league phase.
In years gone by, Celtic have often struggled to translate their dominant domestic form onto the European stage, but pundit man Michael Stewart believes it is a very different story this season due to the club’s astute business in the summer transfer window.
Overall, boss Brendan Rodgers brought in eight new recruits, with Stewart describing former Sheffield United man Auston Trusty as the pick of the bunch to elevate the club’s European hopes.
Stewart waxed lyrical about the USA international’s defensive qualities and told the Scottish Football Social Club: “The beauty about Trusty as well, (he’s) predominantly left-sided, but we’ve seen him with Scales, he is comfortable enough to go and play on that right-hand side.
“Liam Scales has done brilliant; you’d have no qualms about him playing because you look at him and Trusty playing together in Bergamo against Atalanta, and they were both outstanding.
“But, you’ve got to say that as good as Scales has been, it was the area where people were looking at and saying, Celtic, if they could upgrade in that position, it would be hugely beneficial for Europe.
“At the moment, that athleticism from Trusty certainly suits that Celtic side and looks like it’s going to help them in Europe.”
Trusty has started 10 league matches for the Hoops since arriving from Bramall Lane and has been on the winning side on eight occasions. In that time, his team have kept five clean sheets while also recording a memorable victory over RB Leipzig in Europe.
Rangers ‘at risk’ of UEFA punishment
Football expert Dan Plumley has told Ibrox News that Rangers must take better control of their outgoing costs after publishing a £17.2m pre-tax loss.
Plumey believes Rangers are steering dangerously close to breaking UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules and has urged the clubs to act with caution.
As it stands, European football's governing body currently Financial Fair Play rules allow 85 per cent of revenue of outgoing revenue to be made as player wages and amortisation but are looking to cut that down to 70 per cent in their updated guidelines.
The governing body gives clubs a maximum of five years to amortise transfer fees in their account. Possible penalties for breaching UEFA's FFP rules currently include fines, the withholding of prize money, transfer bans or disqualification from European competitions.
Plumey told the outlet: “One other interesting takeaway linked to the European side of things and UEFA’s new regulations. Their football cost at the minute loosely from what we can see in the accounts, player wages and player amortisation is about 85 per cent of revenue, and we know that UEFA are looking at getting that marker down to 70 per cent by the 2025-26 season. So, there is a little bit of work to do there and be mindful of the cost.”