DAILY RECORD CELTIC RANGERS TRANSFER TALK SHOWS CLEAR AGENDA
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 12 hours ago
- 3 min read
Isn't it amazing how two people can look at the same thing and yet take completely different views away from it?
The Daily Record have got this form of self-deception down to a fine art when it comes to Celtic and Rangers.
Their ability to place a negative spin on one and a hopelessly optimistic take on the other, whilst offering almost nothing in terms of substantive evidence in either case is almost impressive.
Raskin and O’Reilly Coverage Exposes Conflicting Daily Record Celtic Rangers Agendas
Two players who are very likely to move to new clubs in the next couple of weeks are Rangers midfielder Nico Raskin and former Celtic playmaker Matt O’Reilly. That really is where the comparisons between the two should end.
Raskin is a decent player, probably the most valuable, monetizable asset that Rangers currently have in their squad, but O’Reilly, when he is on his game, is on a totally different level.
O’Reilly moved to Brighton and Hove Albion from Celtic last year, in a deal worth £25 million initially. However, in keeping with their recent shrewd moves when selling players on, Celtic added a 30% sell-on clause to O’Reilly’s next transfer.
After an injury ravaged season at Brighton, O’Reilly’s next probable destination seems to be Italy, with the likes of Napoli and Roma said to be interested, and a fee of between £25-30 million on the table.
Meanwhile, Wolves are said to be tentatively interested in Raskin, but no fee has been discussed.
And certainly, if a fee is agreed it’ll be nowhere near the £25 million that the Daily Record has been campaigning hard to try and convince everyone that he’s worth. Truth be told, Rangers would be lucky to get half that.
Again, he’s a good player, but for that kind of money, a player coming from The SPFL needs to be exceptional. Raskin isn't. That’s the harsh reality. He was probably their best player last season, in an extremely poor Rangers team that won nothing.
Contrary to what some of their fans seem to think there is no “we beat Celtic twice long after the league was done and dusted” trophy up for grabs each season.
Still, every cloud has a silver lining. When Rangers capitulated to the likes of Motherwell, Hibs and Queens Park, they did so on what was, apparently, the best pitch in Scotland!
While the Record does their level best to talk up Raskin, their latest O’Reilly headline is decidedly more downbeat. They talk about Celtic’s transfer windfall being “in jeopardy”.
Their basis for this: Roma, one of the clubs interested in O’Reilly would probably take him on loan for a season before buying him, in order to get around UEFA’s financial fair play rules.
Any such deal, if it were to happen, would be a loan with an obligation to buy (just ask Rangers and the seldom mentioned Oscar Cortez about that one).
So, there is no Jeopardy at all, it just means that any money that did come to Celtic, would do so a year further down the line.
The huge difference, which neither of the Daily Record’s stories chooses to mention, is this: Rangers need that money for Raskin before they can make any serious attempts at signing any new players.
Celtic are in no such bind with O’Reilly. If an extra few million comes in, this summer or next, then great. However, it has no impact whatsoever on Celtic’s transfer business this summer either way.
We’ve already got a couple of players in, and indications point to that number increasing significantly by the time our first preseason game kicks off on July 4th.
Rangers meanwhile, have signed a guy from Dundee on a free transfer.
Unbelievably, it seems that the deal for Luca Modric didn't quite pan out in the end. Oh, well, I’m sure the Croatian magician will somehow content himself with a multi-million pound deal elsewhere.
The World Cup finalist will just have to accept that he’ll never get to experience the glitz and glamor of a “sash bash” down at the Louden Tavern.
