Hoops eye on bargain buys

Celtic fans have been warned the club will continue to shun big-money signings in order to stay solvent.

The Hoops have adopted a policy of snapping up young prospects for nominal transfer fees, although chief executive Peter Lawwell insists they will still splash the cash where appropriate.

“The economics of football have changed radically in recent years,” Lawwell told the Times.

“It had got harder and harder for Celtic to compete with the clubs from the major European powers – England, Spain, Italy, Germany – so we knew we had to try a different strategy.

“It is something we’ve been working on for a couple of years now and we will see where it takes us.

“The top transfer fees and salaries today are pretty much out of our reach. But what we have got is a great club, a great brand, and 60,000 people coming to watch us every week. We’ve also got a decent chance of playing in the Champions League most seasons, so all of these are aspects that we can ’sell’ to a young player who might come to Celtic.

“At the moment, it is the way ahead. We will always compete in the transfer market where we can, and we’ve shown that in players such as Scott Brown, Georgios Samaras and Shaun Maloney coming to Celtic. But a new strategy was required. We are trying to find and rear other exciting young talent, at a financial level that is manageable to us.”

Manager Gordon Strachan added: “Some of these players are gambles on our part, works in progress. But I think it is an option we have to pursue. The question is, can we make these players even better?

“We have to gamble and we have to be creative. For example, we could never afford a player like Marouane Fellaini – a young guy who goes to Everton for £15m. That isn’t an option for us. So this is another route.”