Celtic star refuses to sign a new deal and is determined to leave the club.

Celtic star refuses to sign a new deal and is determined to leave the club.

Celtic’s adventure in the revamped Champions League is set to bank 7 Premiership clubs a major boost of £1.6m each – with rivals Rangers the only club NOT to significantly profit.

The Hoops kicked off the 2024/25 campaign in the shiny new League Phase with a rampant 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava that has sparked hopes of a long-awaited prolonged run in the tournament under Brendan Rodgers. It’s the third year running Celtic have qualified for the competition proper and while that’s significantly boosted their own bank balance, it’s been good news for the balance sheets of the rest of the Premiership clubs who haven’t competed at Europe’s elite level in that time.As part of Celtic’s qualification for last season’s Champions League, it’s reported by the Daily Mail that £650,000 will be paid by UEFA to the nine clubs who didn’t play European group stage football in 2023/24 – Dundee, Hearts, Hibs, Kilmarnock, Livingston, Motherwell, Ross County, St Johnstone and St Mirren – as a means of softening the blow of missing out and spreading the money around.But interestingly it’s noted that a new change to the payment schedule is good news for seven of those clubs in particular. The governing body have reportedly confirmed they will bring forward solidarity payments for this season to March and June 2025. And with the new format set to be even more profitable, that means that Dundee, Hibs, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Ross County, St Johnstone and St Mirren will make £1.6m in UEFA solidarity payments alone before the end of the season.That’s because those seven teams will play in the Premiership this season without participating in the League Phase of a UEFA competition. Hearts, who kick off their Conference League campaign against Dinamo Minsk on October 3, and relegated Livingston will bank £650,000 each.

Meanwhile Aberdeen will bank close to £1m, having missed out on the £650,000 solidarity payment for last season due to their participation in the Conference League in 2023/24. Dundee United will take home a similar figure since they weren’t in the Premiership last term.