CELTIC will not be intimidated by the massive financial gulf between the Scottish champions and tonight’s Europa League opponents Valencia.
Amazingly, the line-up for the Spanish aces in their goalless draw against Real Sociedad at the weekend cost a whopping £159MILLION to assemble.
And that does not include the £7million it took to put the substitutes’ bench together.
The Hoops, on the other hand, beat St Johnstone 5-0 in the Scottish Cup on Sunday with a squad that cost a total of £26.6million – and that included £10million substitute Odsonne Edouard, the club’s record signing.
That’s a difference of a staggering £132.4MILLION between this evening’s combatants.
The Spanish giants have been allowed to splash the cash since being bought over by Singaporean businessman Peter Lim five years ago.
GOOD BUY…Scott Sinclair, Brendan Rodgers’ £4.5million purchase from Aston Villa in August 2016, in action against two St Johnstone defenders.
Here is check on the players on both sides and their transfer fees:
CELTIC
Scott Bain (Dundee) Free
Jeremy Toljan (Borussia Dortmund) loan
Jozo Sumonovic (Dinamo Zagreb) £4m
Dedryck Boyata (Manchester City) £1.5m
Jonny Hayes (Aberdeen) £1m
Callum McGregor (Academy) Nothing
Scott Brown (Hibs) £4.4m
Ryan Christie (Inverness Caley Thistle) £500,000
James Forrest (Academy) Nothing
Oliver Burke (West Brom) loan
Scott Sinclair (Aston Villa) £4.5m
Subs:
Odsonne Edouard (PSG) £10m;
Timothy Weah (PSG) Loan;
Kristoffer Ajer (IK Start) £700,000.
TOTAL: £26.6million.
VALENCIA
Neto (Juventus) £6m
Cristiano Piccini (Sporting Lisbon) £6m
Facundo Roncaglia (Celta Vigo) loan
Ezequiel Garay (Zenit St Petersburg) £22m
Jose Gaya (Academy) Nothing
Carlos Soler (Academy) Nothing
Dani Parejo (Getafe) £6m
Geoffrey Kondogbia (Inter Milan) £20m
Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal) Loan
Kevin Gameiro (Atletico Madrid) £15m
Santi Mina (Celta Vigo) £10m.
Subs:
Francis Coquelin (Arsenal) £14m.
Gonçalo Guedes (PSG) £35m.
Rodrigo (Benfica) £25m.
TOTAL: £159million.
* DON’T miss the unbeatable match report and the best action pictures from Celtic v Valencia tonight – only in your champion CQN.
