Celtic could theoretically spend as much as £32.5million in January, football finance expert Dan Plumley says.
The lowdown
Celtic marked the beginning of Ange Postecoglou's reign in the summer with a £20.05million spend, with centre-back Carl Starlfelt the most expensive acquisition at £4.5million (via Transfermarkt).
But they did bank a healthy profit after generating £33.84million through sales.
Odsonne Edouard and Kristoffer Ajer were the headline departures, with their moves to the Premier League fetching £14.67million and £14.13million respectively.
According to The Scottish Daily Mail, Postecoglou wants to strengthen his squad further in January with the acquisition of two central midfielders.
The latest
Plumley told Football Insider that he'd 'crunched the numbers' to determine how much Celtic could grant Postecoglou whilst still complying with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
However, he warned it would be a 'gamble' to spend close to that £32.5million mark.
"There are other exemptions in terms of FFP, but let’s avoid them to simplify the argument a little. They could spend £32.5m quite comfortably.
"The problem with that is that you can overstretch to reach the Champions League group stage.
"So they have got flex within FFP but the gamble is overstretching. That is the gamble the boardroom, I imagine, will be looking at."
The verdict
Crucially, Celtic's arch-rivals Rangers appear to have significantly less room for investment.
The Gers recently announced a loss of £23.5million for the year, with their total losses under the current regime climbing to a whopping £73.8million (via The Athletic). Perhaps that could force them to sell some of their talent, while the allure of Steven Gerrard in the Premier League may also tempted some of the Hoops' rivals into leaving Glasgow.
And so even if Celtic don't spend all the money they're permitted to, they look well-placed to regain their Scottish crown, providing Postecoglou is granted enough to strengthen the injury-hit areas of his squad, namely through the spine of the XI.
In other news, this player wanted to move to Celtic.