Celtic’s new kit deal is another real word success, not something plucked out of fantasyland.

So today, one of the least surprising announcements in a while was made by our club — and it’s that we’re extending our deal with Adidas.

Now, everyone knew this was coming. We’ve been trailing this for a while now, and although the details are still sketchy, the talk is of a record-breaking extension — the biggest kit deal in our history — and it continues our relationship with the biggest name in the sportswear industry.

It’s nothing but good news, of course.

And it’s real, tangible, hold-it-in-your-hands good news. That makes it a world apart from some of the hysteria being whipped up by fans across the city, as they gleefully boast about deals which haven’t happened yet, deals which haven’t been signed, and start spending money that isn’t in the bank.

See, I’ve always thought of us as being a much more grounded fanbase than theirs. I’ve always thought of us as being a much more grounded club.

We don’t get ahead of ourselves and start celebrating triumphs that haven’t happened yet. We don’t get too far in front of reality. It keeps us on a tight leash — and that’s how reality is supposed to work. It’s supposed to ground you. Because otherwise, you’re off doing stupid stuff and making mistakes — sometimes very consequential ones.

The other day, I was getting sent a lot of mocking nonsense about the supposed Red Bull deal across the city. I had to remind people that there is no Red Bull deal. That it’s speculation. That it’s nowhere near to actually happening, but that it’s emblematic of the kind of fantasy-land nonsense these people believe in.

Now, it may be that they end up with some shirt sponsorship deal with Red Bull somewhere down the line — but I’m not sure what difference they think it makes. In the here and now, it’s still fantasy.

They’re very good over there at celebrating phantom triumphs and imagined future successes. We prefer to focus on the here and now — on things that are actually happening. Triumphs that have actually been secured. Victories that have actually been won. I think that’s part of why we’re successful and they’re not.

I wrote an article once that said if you live in a fairy tale, you should always be watching for dragons. What do the dragons represent? Well, in a sense, the dragons represent reality. But you’d think that people who live in a fantasy world would have a better imagination for what forms those dragons might take.

I’ll talk more about the takeover later on. There’s still so much of it they don’t want to examine. A national newspaper published five questions that fans might have wanted to ask if they’d been given the chance when the so-called investors were in Glasgow earlier in the week. Not one of them were the questions I’d be asking if this were Celtic.

One of the questions was whether Red Bull will be involved. This one seems stuck in their heads on repeat play. Another was about who the manager will be. A third was how much money the manager will get. These are the matters that concern them. No thought whatsoever is given to who will be buying the club, or with what kind of money. And whether that money will be transferred as debt onto the shoulders of the club. These are the kinds of questions I would want answers to — because they’re the ones with the deepest possible implications.

None of these people has even thought to ask whether this is a long-term plan or not. Again, probably not something many of them see as important — but it’s of huge significance for their future, and for every one of their supporters.

Just last week they played a little sleight of hand on their fans when they announced the new Umbro deal — except we know it’s not an Umbro deal at all. We know it’s a Castore deal with an Umbro logo on it. That means they’re still lagging well behind us when it comes to this stuff, and it looks awful aside the deal we’ve just announced today.

And everyone should be asking, if this takeover is really imminent and these people really want the best, why weren’t they able to wait it out and negotiate on the open market instead of doing an in-house deal?

Again, probably not an important question — if you live in a fantasy world. But a little more important if you’re forced to deal with the day-to-day in the real and the raw.

And that’s why today’s deal is so significant. That’s why the signing of a major extension to our current contract with the biggest kit firm in the world — the biggest sportswear brand on the planet — matters.

It’s illustrative of our brand strength. It’s a tribute to a commercial department that’s been in situ and working well for years.

As I’ve said in previous pieces, the people who run our club are very, very good in certain areas of the business and when they operate within certain parameters. And there’s a lot to be said, in some ways, for people who’ve been on the board or at the club for a while — because they’ve built relationships with major partners.

The deal will last for the next decade.

That’s an outstanding commitment from Adidas and a resounding vote of confidence in Celtic’s future. These people don’t expect us to be second best any time soon. And if it is a record-breaking deal, as the club has suggested, then it probably includes a significant lump sum up front — and that too will come in handy for letting the manager spend a bit in the summer.

Not that we’re desperate for cash — the recent accounts make that clear enough.

It’s a good announcement. It’s a big announcement. And it’s been done largely without hyperbole, because it doesn’t need it. That tends to be the case in the real world — you don’t need to let your imagination run wild, you don’t need to over-egg it. Real and tangible success speaks for itself. It doesn’t need hype.

The Ibrox club might learn that lesson someday.

But as Luke McCowan said yesterday — we’ll probably never know.