Rangers legend reveals eye-watering figure club must spend to bridge gap to Celtic

Graeme Souness has warned Rangers that they need to spend big to bridge the gap to Celtic.

The gulf between the Old Firm adversaries was evident at Celtic Park last Sunday as Brendan Rodgers' side cruised to a 3-0 win to open up a five-point gap over their Glasgow rivals in the William Hill Premiership.

It continued the domination the Hoops have enjoyed over Rangers in recent times, with the Ibrox side having won just one of the last 13 meetings between the pair.

Celtic have also won 12 of the last 13 Scottish titles, a run which included an unprecedented quadruple treble, while Rangers have won just three trophies since suffering liquidation in 2012.

Souness does not believe the gap is as huge as some claim, but reckons it would take a major financial outlay in the region of £50million just to bring his former club back level-pegging with Celtic. Money, he admits, Rangers simply don't have.

Speaking on William Hill's Three Up Front podcast, Souness said: “Right now, there is gap between Rangers and Celtic, but it’s not insurmountable. Three or four quality signings could make the difference, but Rangers don’t have the money right now.

Rangers' Connor Barron (centre) and Robin Propper look dejected during the 3-0 defeat to Celtic. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group) | SNS Group

“If they were to spend £50 million, it’d be nip and tuck between the two of them. Rangers were the same as Liverpool last season, both could have won the league if they’d won the last ten games, and neither of them did it.

“Celtic were the better team, I’m not denying that, I just didn’t think that Rangers got pummelled in the Old Firm derby. Jack Butland only had two saves to make, although he did need to pick the ball out of the net three times. Two more shots on target all game, is that a suggestion they were on the back foot? No. That said, Celtic have better strikers than Rangers do right now.”

Souness won many more Old Firms than he lost during his successful spell as Rangers manager, starting the club on a path towards nine-in-a-row in the 1990s before Walter Smith took over.

He admits that seeing the club in its current state is hard to bear, but is confident that with the right financial investment at Ibrox, the Old Firm derby can become competitive once again.

“Losing yet again is a really bitter pill to swallow for Rangers,” said Souness. “But, I have been in football a long time and I know how quickly things change. There was a time where Celtic won nine titles in a row, and the Rangers fans would have been thinking, ‘this is it, we’re never going to win again’. They did come back, though, and then they went on to win nine in a row.

“Rangers just need money now. They finished second last year and spent £14 million on new players, Celtic spent double that and they won the league. They still managed to come second against them despite spending half the money. They just need an influx of money, that’s all it is.”