Celtic fantasist fees demolished as Rangers punters enter number crunching Hotline battle armed with calculators

The Hotline accountants are out in force as Rangers and Celtic step up their summer recruitment drives. But it’s the valuation of players who could be heading out the door that’s the big talker with Celtic wanting upwards of £25million for Matt O’Riley after Atalanta had another bid booted into touch and Rangers set to offload Ianis Hagi to Fiorentina at a loss.

Scott Gowers, Edinburgh, said: “I’m not for one second saying Matt O'Riley isn't a decent player as he was phenomenal at the start of last season, mediocre in the middle and decent at the end. But Celtic wanting more than £15m is a joke considering Abdallah Sima, who unfortunately suffered a long term injury, had better stats per minutes for Rangers yet is only worth £7m. Who comes up with these fantasist amounts?”

Jimmy Mac, Glasgow, said: “It's no wonder Rangers are skint when we are selling experienced players for pennies in football terms. For example Ianis Hagi for £2.95m. Whoever is pricing the players at Ibrox needs to be kicked out the club permanently as it could also be down to him that the likes of Morelos, Kent, Barisic and Lundstrum all walked away and the club received zero in sales. That is a complete dereliction of duty.”

Meanwhile Record Sport revealed Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland is on Rangers wanted list and Eddie Easson, Ballingry, said: “Are Rangers getting ready for the last throw of the dice in trying to sign Shankland? At the start of the month Tavernier and Goldson were worth £15million, now they will leave for pennies. A £30m price on Jack Butland but not a whisper of a bid. Shankland isn’t a bad player and Hearts will want top dollar.”

Rangers fans continue to fret about the state of their squad ahead of the new season. Tam