Rangers legend Graeme Souness has pulled out a blockbuster case study over clubs splashing the case – having previously urged the Ibrox chiefs to spend big to catch Celtic.
Souness has already made it clear how much he thinks should be spent to dethrone the Hoops – insisting that Gers need to splash £50million on up to four quality additions to close the gap on Celtic last year.
At the time he noted that the club that spend big always rise to the top – as the 71-year-old attempted to play down the gap between the Glasgow rivals.
At the time, he said: “Right now, there is gap between Rangers and Celtic, but it’s not insurmountable.
“Three or four quality signings could make the difference, but Rangers don’t have the money right now. If they were to spend £50million, it’d be nip and tuck between the two of them.
“Rangers just need money now. They finished second last year and spent £14million on new players, Celtic spent double that and they won the league.
“They still managed to come second against them despite spending half the money. They just need an influx of money, that’s all it is.”
And he has now backed up his argument by pointing to the massive finances behind English clubs rise to European success.
Victories for both Manchester United and Tottenham in the Europa League semi-final first leg ramp mean that a whopping six Premier League sides could be guaranteed Champions League football next season.
Writing for the Daily Mail, he said: “Results in the Europa League on Thursday mean it is a very real prospect that six English teams will be competing in the Champions League next season.
“But that shouldn’t come as a surprise for the richest league in the world. The greatest indicator is what we spend on transfer fees.
“We are lucky here, with the product we have, and the TV money involved that we can buy the best players.
“Generally, if you look down the league table, the team that spends the most on wages is usually at the top. It hasn’t happened all of a sudden.
“We don’t produce the greatest coaches or the best players, we are top of the tree because the most money is spent here.
“The Premier League spent £2.19billion last summer. To put that into context, Serie A was the next closest biggest spender on £990million while La Liga spent £506m.
“In my playing days, clubs like Liverpool couldn’t compete financially with the Germans or Italians. That’s why Real Madrid and Javier Tebas, La Liga’s president, are not so happy now.”
Souness will hope that pharmaceutical tycoon Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises will heed his warning going into next season with their takeover looming.
