Celtic bask in glory as Nakamura strike earns £5m windfall
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell, believes qualification for the Champions' League knockout stages has given the club a "foundation" to strengthen the squad.
The immediate effect has been to boost Celtic's share price by 15 per cent the day after Gordon Strachan's team qualified for the knock-out phase for the first time by defeating Manchester United 1-0 at Celtic Park and, according to a financial expert, the victory could earn them about £5m.
The extra income would come via prize-money, gate receipts, television and sponsorship deals which have sent shares in the Glasgow club to their highest level since March. But Lawwell insists the financial windfall involved in reaching the last 16 can wait while the fans continue to savour the achievement.
Lawwell said: "It is not insignificant moving forward but [the night] was all about the football and giving the fans something they have been waiting for for such a long time. We have had many really close attempts at it and some very sad exits at the very last minute. So the important thing was to give the supporters something they had been waiting for for a while."
He added: "We have stabilised the club to some extent without compromising the quality - we have a very strong and high-quality squad. But Gordon knows what his budgets are and we were hoping to strengthen in January in any case."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments