When Brendan Rodgers returned to Celtic, one of his goals as manager was to improve the club’s standing in the Champions League.
In Rodgers’ first tenure, Celtic suffered some heavy defeats in the Champions League to the likes of Barcelona and PSG.
Keen to avoid a repeat of those kinds of results, the Celtic manager recruited the likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Arne Engels and Adam Idah to compete against Europe’s elite.
And it worked. Celtic progressed out the group stage and held their own against the might of Bayern Munich and almost pulled off the impossible by beating the Bundesliga giants on their own turf.
That and other results have left Arsenal legend Ray Parlour in awe after hearing what Celtic earn in the Scottish league compared to teams in the Premier League.
FC Bayern München v Celtic FC - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off Second Leg
Photo by Sathire Kelpa/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Arsenal legend Ray Parlour blown away by Celtic’s Champions League campaign
It’s well known that the English Premier League is the richest domestic football competition in the world. In season 2022/23, Man City earned over £176m for winning the competition.
Bottom club Southampton were rewarded with a handsome sum of £103.6m. There is no doubt that this year’s winners and losers will earn significantly more than that.
And it was when Parlour learned what Celtic earn for becoming the Scottish champions, the Arsenal legend was left awestruck at how the Glasgow club performed in UEFA’s elite competition.
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Parlour told talkSPORT [12m], “They can’t compete. If you come bottom you get about £110 million in the Premier League.
“What would Celtic get if they win the Scottish Premiership?”
Brazil: “I don’t know, but I think they get £3 million for TV rights.”
Parlour: “Yeah, I know. They just can’t compete, I’m afraid. So they do really well in Europe considering what sort of financial situation they’re in, if I’m being honest.”
Celtic’s impressive financial pulling power as Adidas and the summer tour turn into a cash cow
Celtic’s 2025 pre-season schedule is already well under way. Brendan Rodgers has watched his side defeat Queen’s Park and Cork City and lost to Portuguese minnows Estrela da Amadora.
With Sporting Lisbon, Newcastle, Como and Ajax or Al Ahli still to come, there is still plenty of money to be earned from meaningless friendlies.
Taking into account the Parkhead club’s deal with Adidas, Celtic could earn upwards of £45m from the German sportswear giant and the pre-season tour combined.