Callum McGregor has responded to the Scottish media about a potential Rangers takeover, with the Celtic captain even asked how he and his teammates would deal with the possible Ibrox change.
With plenty of media attention on Rangers potentially getting new owners, McGregor was his usual honest self — straight to the point and hitting back in style.
There may not have been a huge gulf in recent Glasgow derbies, but put simply, over a full season there is a gap between Celtic and Rangers. The Hoops will be desperate to widen that this summer with marquee signings, despite some in the media hopefully suggesting that Rangers could immediately bridge the gap next season.
Celtic have a top-calibre manager in Brendan Rodgers, who thrives on being written off, and McGregor clearly agrees with the Irishman that they’ll only be focusing on improving themselves — not the noise across the city over a takeover that has yet to happen.
He said: (RecordSport), “Of course. When you win these trophies then I think the aim straightaway is ‘Can we defend them, can we keep them all here?’ It’s the mind-set of ‘This is ours, we want to keep it.’
“Obviously, we’ll see what happens across the road in the summer. We’ll try not to look at it too much. But, of course, if there is investment then that will tell you maybe the level of everything and the club will go up. We then have to react to that and keep pushing our level.
I think what’s been good over a long period of time, any time we’ve found ourselves under pressure, we’ve managed to deliver and stay in front. I guess the guys here have a good reference for that anyway, so as soon as the level goes up then we can go up again as well.”
“If you set that standard at the start of the season and you win every game, then you win the league. So that’s what we have to be – it doesn’t matter where anyone else is.
“We have to strive to make our game model the best it can be, recruit the best we can do, and then through 10, 11 months of the season bring the best version of ourselves every single day. If we do that, then it probably won’t matter what anyone else does.”
Celtic have gone up a gear for much of the season, reaching the knockout playoffs of the Champions League and going unbeaten domestically for the first six months. That’s where the Hoops can still improve — by becoming even more competitive in Europe, and consistent domestically. It may be a tall ask, but Rodgers will be desperate to end what could potentially be his final season at Celtic in style.
For McGregor, he’s one of the major figures in the Celtic dressing room and has consistently shut out the noise from Ibrox — whether it was winning an unbeaten domestic treble in Rangers’ first season in the Premiership in 2016/17, or going on to dominate Scottish football after Rangers claimed one league title in 2021. McGregor has repeatedly silenced the Ibrox hype train.
The final weeks of the season will be huge for McGregor and Celtic. With the chance to clinch the league title on Saturday and a trip to Ibrox in nine days, the Hoops captain will aim to make an impact in Govan. Celtic are due a strong Glasgow Derby performance, especially with McGregor having missed the last match at Celtic Park due to injury.
