Dermot Desmond has pulled the plug on the possible lucrative talks as he decided that Celtic are in a better position where they are right now.
For years, it has been clear that there needs to be some change in Scottish football. Even the two biggest clubs – Celtic and the Rangers – have not been able to keep up with their English counterparts. And it is not because of a lack of support.
The two have some of the biggest global fanbases of any club and are clearly much bigger than most English sides. But can they compete with someone like Sheffield United or Fulham in the transfer market? The answer is no.
One of the ideas that have been floating around for a while is the creation of the Atlantic League, which will take some of the biggest teams from mid and lower-level European leagues to create a new competition with an aim to increase revenue that will give them a revenue boost and help them to compete with clubs from England, Spain, France, Italy and Germany.
As expected, Celtic were one of the teams in talks over such a league but it appears Dermot Desmond has pulled the plug on the move. As reported by The Times, an Atlantic League spokesperson said:
"“We received a call a few weeks ago from the principal shareholder of Celtic to say that he and Celtic were not interested in pursuing the project any further, preferring the status quo or the concept of a British isles league.“This was both a surprise and a disappointment to us given our lengthy engagement with the clubs and our success in receiving proposals for underwriting the league worth well over one billion euros.“However, of course, we must respect their decision.“We remain of the view that the interests of all stakeholders in small and mid-sized European countries are best served by consolidating their markets and that resolving the competitive balance issue can only be achieved in this way.“We know this is UEFA’s greatest concern and were very encouraged by our stakeholder engagements to date.”"
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He did go on to inform though that the project has been put on ice for the time being due to the effects of the global pandemic. It is interesting though that Desmond has decided to pull out of talks.
It is clear that Celtic need a boost. While money continues to be thrown around Europe, the club have failed to grow their own financial capabilities to the point were they can compete. The result of that has been the fact that they continue to slide down the European footballing totem pole. The Hoops have failed to make the Champions League main stage for three seasons in a row.
One thing is clear, some change is needed if the club need to turn their fortunes around. Despite being one of the biggest clubs in the world supporter wise, they have been held back by the model of Scottish football. And sooner or later, it might be time to make the jump to the Premier League or be one of the founding members of something along the lines of the proposed Atlantic League.