If Celtic Lands A Frimpong Transfer Windfall It Will Put Ibrox’s Budget In The Shade.

I don’t normally like to write articles which are based so thoroughly on hypothetical scenarios, but the story which broke yesterday about Jeremie Frimpong’s agent talking to Manchester United with a view to them making a move for the player, tickled me.

The numbers being talked about are so big that I wonder if the deal will ever come to pass. £50 million? Is he worth that? I’d not have said so, but he’d be going from a top German club to a top EPL one and that’s the going rate when that happens.

Celtic fans can only watch and wonder if it will come to fruition, but if it does the bonanza is going to be unbelievable. Potentially worth £11 million. For doing nothing. When we’ve already had a big pay-day for the player.

That’s crazy, and as astonished as I would be if it happened, it is a tribute to our eye for a player that we might net another huge sum for him after he was only here for a short time. I think it’s fair to say that signing Frimpong was extraordinary business.

If we land that massive bonus, the manager will be delighted. It can go straight towards his transfer budget for the summer. The amazing thing is that this cash, which we’re not even relying on, which we don’t even need, is probably going to be more substantial than what The Mooch is allowed to spend across the city.

All the signs are there that their club is experiencing financial turbulence. The story which broke the other day about new shares being issued was talked up by the media instead of being read as a clear-cut sign of trouble behind the scenes.

More on that later. Oh Hell yes, you had better believe it.

The Mooch is already putting his board under pressure over the summer budget. Think of how much harder he will have to push them if we can hand the manager even half of that £10 million bounty in addition to the wealth he will already have access to after a full uptake of season tickets, possible player sales and Champions League income guaranteed?

In a summer which they are already preparing for by scrambling to drum up interest in the likes of Kamara, Hagi and Barisic, and where his spending will be severely limited if they don’t get one of those guys out the door, Celtic will be able to outspend them by a wide margin. Will The Mooch stand for that? He’s walked out on clubs before because of transfer restrictions being placed on the coaching team … do not rule out a similar outcome.

This definitely would put additional pressure on everyone over there. Which, as much as anything, is a good reason for hoping that it comes off. If Kieran Tierney also moves in the summer window … well, without doing anything we might be able to give Ange the biggest transfer budget a Scottish manager has ever had available to spend.

And for the club across city, that is their worst nightmare writ large as they attempt to build their own side on a shoe-string budget.