Old Firm Spend Pulls Clear as Premiership Rivals Patch Squads

Celtic have already spent around £27m on four permanent arrivals this summer after banking roughly £35m in sales, while Rangers have outlaid £17.5m and secured Lawrence Shankland on a free transfer from Hearts. Combined Old Firm spending sits near £45m with the Scottish Premiership window open until 5pm on September 3, leaving most other clubs to rebuild through free agents and loans.

The pattern leaves Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibernian and the rest patching squads on tighter budgets even as the 2026 World Cup has flooded the market with available talent.

That split is not a one-window quirk. Sales from Parkhead and selected Ibrox exits create the cash for the next wave of arrivals, while the clubs outside Glasgow work the free and loan lists that the SPFL’s own confirmed-transfer page keeps filling. The September 3 cut-off will freeze the gap rather than close it.

Celtic Turn Sales Into a £27m Attack Refresh

Parkhead’s business has been efficient. The club sold Daizen Maeda to Ipswich Town for £10m and Arne Engels to West Ham United for a £22m Championship-record fee for Engels. Luis Palma went to Lech Poznan for £3.5m and further departures including Maik Nawrocki added to the haul.

Those funds covered Kasper Hogh from Bodo/Glimt for £11m, Haissem Hassan from Real Oviedo for £9m, Mika Baur from Paderborn for £6.8m and Camilo Duran from Qarabag for £6m. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain arrived as a free agent. One fan ledger circulating on X put the net position near a £3m profit once add-ons and earlier fees are tallied.

The four permanent fees alone show where the recycled money went: two double-digit strikes in Hogh and Hassan, then Baur and Duran to fill the attack. Engels and Maeda supplied the bulk of the outbound total that made the refresh possible without a heavy net loss.

Reports late in August had Celtic advancing an £8.5m package for Bosnia international Ermin Mahmic of Slovan Liberec after his World Cup showings. Martin O’Neill’s side have also chased right-back cover amid injury issues.

That late chase fits the same method. Sell high into England, then spend into the European and Scandinavian markets that still price below the Premier League and Championship. The Oxlade-Chamberlain free deal sat beside the paid arrivals as low-risk depth rather than a headline outlay.

Rangers Rebuild Around Free Shankland and Paid Arrivals

At Ibrox the approach mixed high-volume free and loan arrivals with selected fees. Lawrence Shankland crossed from Hearts on a free transfer. Cammy Devlin followed the same path from Tynecastle. Dan Neil arrived as a free agent from Sunderland.

Paid deals included goalkeeper Ivan Pandur from Hull City for £6m, Vanja Dragojevic from Partizan Belgrade for £4m, Olwethu Makhanya from Philadelphia Union for £3m and Daisuke Yokota from Hannover 96 for £2.75m. Ross McCrorie returned from Bristol City for an undisclosed fee. Loans brought Ben Godfrey from Atalanta, James Penrice from AEK Athens and Kosta Nedeljkovic from Aston Villa (with a £4m obligation).

• £17.5m gross spend reported by mid-August
• £11.6m recouped from Diomande, Antman and Butland sales
• 11 new permanent or loan arrivals by late August
• £6m largest single fee, Pandur

Manager Derek McInnes said after a Conference League win: “We’re trying in a few different areas to get the right players in, players with the right quality. We’ve been really focused on certain ones. I’m quite hopeful we can do one in the next few days.” Rangers were also linked with an £8.5m release-clause move for Girona winger Kim Min-su.

We’re trying in a few different areas to get the right players in, players with the right quality. We’ve been really focused on certain ones. I’m quite hopeful we can do one in the next few days.

Derek McInnes, Rangers manager, post-match comments

Jack Butland left for Hull for £3m. Oliver Antman went to Anderlecht for £3.5m or £4.5m depending on the report. Mohamed Diomande moved to Corum FK for around £4.5m.

The outbound trio roughly offsets two-thirds of the reported gross spend. Shankland, Devlin and Neil then add first-team bodies without another fee line. Volume is the point: eleven arrivals by late August, mixing paid, free and loan paths so the squad turns over even when the net cash position stays modest.

Side by side, Celtic’s window is sales-led and concentrated on four paid attackers. Rangers’ is volume-led, with a lower gross outlay, a free-transfer spine and loans that still carry future obligations such as the Nedeljkovic clause.

Frees and Loans Fill the Rest of the League

Outside the Old Firm the window has been quieter on cash. Aberdeen brought in Lewis Mayo and Brad Lyons from Kilmarnock on free transfers, plus Dan Happe, Toyosi Olusanya, Nesta Guinness-Walker and others on free or low fees. Chris Cadden arrived from Hibernian for an undisclosed sum. Lewis Smith cost £300,000 from Livingston. Outgoings included Topi Keskinen to Odense for £1m-plus and Dimitar Mitov to St Pauli for £430,000.

Hearts lost Shankland and Devlin for free to Rangers but added Josh McPake from St Johnstone free, Stuart Findlay on a loan-to-permanent, and a string of free or low-cost options including Beau Reus and Tom Renaud. Alexandros Kyziridis left for Corum FK for £1.7m.

Hibernian signed Jason Kerr and Callum Wright free, plus loans such as Nathan Lowe from Stoke. Dundee and Dundee United stocked up heavily on free agents from Australia, free-agent British talent and loans from English clubs. Motherwell sold Elijah Just to Swansea for £6m and Calum Ward to QPR for £800,000 while bringing in several frees and loans.

• Aberdeen: Mayo, Lyons and several other free or low-fee deals; Smith at £300,000
• Hearts: free losses of Shankland and Devlin offset by McPake, Findlay and other low-cost options
• Hibernian: Kerr and Wright free, Lowe on loan from Stoke
• Motherwell: £6m Just sale and £800,000 Ward exit funding free and loan incomings
• Falkirk and St Mirren: free veterans plus academy loans from England and Rangers

Falkirk, newly promoted or competing, took Craig Sibbald free from Dundee United, Scott Tanser free from St Mirren and multiple loans from English academies. St Mirren added Calvin Ramsay on loan from Liverpool and Paul Nsio on loan from Rangers. St Johnstone and Kilmarnock cycled through free agents and end-of-contract moves.

The SPFL maintains a running list of confirmed Premiership incoming transfers that underlines how many arrivals carry no fee.

Motherwell’s Just fee is the clearest exception below the Old Firm line, a single Championship-bound sale large enough to reshape one club’s summer. Everywhere else the pattern holds: free agents, end-of-contract picks and loans from English academies do the work that transfer fees cannot.

World Cup Timing Opens Bargains and Raises Values

Clubs timed business around the 2026 World Cup. Players who shone for smaller nations or co-hosts saw interest spike. Mahmic’s two goals for Bosnia raised his price. Others became available as free agents after contracts expired during the tournament break. Scottish sides used the pause to secure deals that might have been harder in a normal calendar.

At the same time, English Championship clubs such as West Ham and Ipswich paid Premiership prices for Scottish talent, creating the cash Celtic recycled. The flow of money still concentrates at the top two.

The same tournament that lifted Mahmic’s asking price also loosened contracts elsewhere, which is why Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibernian and the Dundee clubs could stock squads without matching Old Firm fees. Availability rose; spending power did not spread with it.

Celtic’s reported £8.5m interest in Mahmic and Rangers’ £8.5m link to Kim Min-su show both Glasgow clubs still hunting upside after the finals. Those figures sit in the same bracket as Pandur’s £6m fee and well above the low-cost deals that define the rest of the league.

Old Firm Spending Sprees Fit a Familiar Pattern

Transfermarkt data on the biggest spending sprees in Scottish football history shows Celtic and Rangers occupy every place in the modern top 10. Celtic’s recent seasons have repeatedly ranked high; last season’s outlay set a club and league mark in one measure. Rangers’ current window already sits inside the historical top five and could climb higher with late deals.

Over a decade Celtic have taken the large majority of fees leaving Scottish football. That sales engine funds the next round of arrivals while rivals start further back.

This summer’s roughly £35m Celtic haul and Rangers’ £11.6m from Diomande, Antman and Butland extend that history rather than break it. Combined near-£45m spending by the pair, against free-agent rebuilds elsewhere, is the latest version of a ranking the Transfermarkt list has already frozen at the top.

English Fees Power the Next Glasgow Round

The mechanism is simple once the fees are lined up. West Ham’s £22m for Engels and Ipswich’s £10m for Maeda moved Championship money into Parkhead. Hull’s £3m for Butland and the Antman and Diomande exits moved smaller sums into Ibrox. Those inbound English and European fees became the budget lines for Hogh, Hassan, Pandur and the rest.

Clubs outside Glasgow rarely touch that loop. When they do sell, the returns are smaller or one-off: Motherwell’s £6m for Just, Hearts’ £1.7m for Kyziridis, Aberdeen’s £1m-plus for Keskinen. Those sums fund patches, not four-player attack refreshes.

1. Outbound to England and Europe: Engels £22m, Maeda £10m, Just £6m, Diomande around £4.5m, Antman £3.5m or £4.5m, Butland £3m
2. Recycled at the top: Celtic’s four permanents around £27m; Rangers’ gross £17.5m
3. Remainder of the league: free agents, loans, and isolated fees such as Smith’s £300,000

Until buyers further south stop paying Premiership prices for Old Firm talent, the sales engine keeps favouring the same two balance sheets. Everyone else waits on contract expiries and loan lists.

The Early Table Will Mirror the Window

Squad volume and fee power do not guarantee points, yet they shape the starting conditions. Celtic’s paid attack refresh and Rangers’ eleven arrivals give both managers depth that Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibernian cannot match on free transfers alone.

Shankland’s free move from Hearts to Rangers is the sharpest single illustration: one club loses its focal forward at no fee, the other gains him at no fee. Devlin’s parallel path doubles the hit. Hearts’ reply, McPake free and Findlay on a loan-to-permanent, is rational on a tight budget and still a step down in cash committed.

Supporters already track net spends on X. The ledgers will keep circulating after registration closes because the underlying split will still be visible on the pitch: two clubs that can buy in the £6m to £11m range, and a league around them built on frees, loans and the occasional £300,000 deal.

Deadline Day Pressure Builds on Both Ends of the Table

With days left until the 5pm September 3 cut-off, Celtic still chase midfield reinforcement and defensive cover. Rangers target further attacking quality. Hearts pursue smaller additions. Smaller clubs finalise loans and free deals before registration closes.

Supporters on X already circulate detailed ledgers comparing net spends. The numbers show one clear split: the two Glasgow clubs have the cash and the volume. Everyone else works the free and loan markets. That imbalance will shape the early Premiership table long after the window shuts.

The final confirmed list will sit on the SPFL site and Sky Sports Transfer Centre once the clock stops.