Rangers vs. Celtic: who is paying higher wages for their players?

 As the season draws to a close and the transfer window opens there is again talk of a rebuild at Ibrox. Philippe Clement has improved a Rangers side he inherited and has already made his intent clear with the kind of signings he wants to make. Diomande has done well enough, but is sure to improve with a solid pre-season, Cortés looked great before falling injured and Silva has contributed well despite moving out of position for most of his spell. Diomande will be signed in the summer with Cortés likely to join him, it is unlikely Silva will make his move to Ibrox permanent.

Over the past few years Rangers have done well at recruiting solid free agents, players here have included Calvin Bassey, Steven Davis, Dujon Sterling, Tom Lawrence, John Lundstram and Kieran Dowell amongst others. These free agents have been crucial in forming the Rangers squad with several becoming key players over the years. Saving money on a transfer has unfortunately not been entirely successful though. Rangers’ wage bill is much higher than Celtic’s, to the tune of around £3.5 million this season.

Celtic have won 3 league titles in a row and Rangers have work to do to prevent a 4th in a row. The reality is that Celtic are guaranteed to benefit from Champions League money next season while Rangers must wait to see which competition they will be playing in. Rangers have to make this financial gap up somewhere and it is clear Rangers need to be more efficient with their wages. You can see the comparison between the Old Firm wages below. All figures were taken from salarysport.com with the top wages being verified by several news sites. I don’t know if these are all 100% accurate but comparing a few sources shows me they probably aren’t too far off.

 

*Reliable figures were unavailable for Rangers’ 3 January loan signings.

A few things stand out when looking at these figures.

·      Rangers have 13 players earning more than £20K per week, Celtic have just 3. (The figures are from the start of the season so Nat Phillips has since moved on).

·      Rangers’ squad players are earning a lot more than Celtic’s. To put it in perspective Kieran Dowell, who didn’t make the Rangers European squad, earns more than Matt O’Riley, one of the best players in the league!

·      Players signed from Premier League or Championship sides are earning a lot more money than those who weren’t.

There are few reasons why this might be the case.

·      Free agents have a greater chance of getting higher wages as there is no outlay on a transfer fee, Rangers signed quite a few of these players for free.

·      Rangers have signed plenty of players from English sides where players were used to higher wages. Celtic have used the Asian market effectively, those players likely all received a significant salary increase by moving to Celtic even though they earn less than their Rangers counterparts.

·      Rangers have changed their manager, and style, more often than Celtic. Brendan Rodgers is still using Postecoglou’s side with his own signings struggling to get first team football regularly (with a couple of exceptions). Beale made a lot of his own signings with the intention of using them as part of the first 11 and this is reflected in the salaries the players are on.

·      Several of Rangers’ top earners are onto their second, third or even fourth contracts, with most renewals coming with a pay rise for first team players. It is no coincidence that Celtic’s highest earner is also their longest serving player and captain. Celtic may have to offer higher wages if they want to extend the contracts of players like Kyogo, Maeda, Scales, Johnston, Carter Vickers, Hatate and O’Riley (if he doesn’t leave this summer).

 

Clement has a big job on his hands to make this squad his own. Not only does he have to replace players who are leaving but he also has to be more financially savvy (not his job but it will effect the players he can sign). It looks like Lundstram, Barisic, Jack, Roofe and McLaughlin will all be leaving as free agents this summer freeing up around £83K per week, but they will need to be replaced, likely with players requiring a transfer fee.

 

At the time of writing Rangers are linked with Jose Cordoba as a likely replacement for Ben Davies. Cordoba will likely be earning much less than Davies’ reported £27K per week. It is also likely Lawrence Shankland will join Rangers this summer, the same source suggests Shankland is on just £3k per week at Hearts with a pay rise certain at Rangers. Shankland could earn 8x his current wage and still earn less than Roofe according to salarysport.com. Signing players from smaller leagues and snapping up the best talent in the Scottish Premiership is likely the approach Rangers should adopt in the coming years, both to strengthen the club’s financial situation and to unearth talent to overtake Celtic.