Patterson sale confirms onerous task for Celtic

Selling a squad player for a figure of around £11m is good business in anyone’s book, doubly so for Newco.  The anticipated money for Nathan Patterson, on top of the £4.5m for their management team from Aston Villa, will cover at least 9 months of their losses this season.  They may even break even for the first season in their history.

There will be limited impact on team performance this season, 20-year-old Patterson has hardly featured, with penalty kick taker James Tavernier preferred at right back.  Tavernier’s peak is already behind him, the pain of losing Patterson will be realised when Tavernier remains at right back well into his decline.

That pain is so distant right now it is irrelevant.  Newco need to raise money to pay their bills to finish the season, Everton’s cash will help here.  They need to sell – more than this – in order to avoid Uefa Financial Fair Play inhibitions. If they can raise enough cash to finish the season, they will be able to spend some of that money without affecting their immediate FFP status, so they could even be stronger for the remainder of the season than they would be if they retain Patterson.

Celtic have had a great transfer window so far, but that six point gap at the top of the table remains onerous.  It will take an enormous effort to overcome.