Ally McCoist dropped a cheeky barb at Celtic summer transfer business - but TV sparring partner Chris Sutton wasn't having it. The Ibrox legend claimed the reigning Premiership champions have "effectively made two signings" this summer as he previewed the upcoming campaign on BT Sport's Scottish Football Extra.
He name-checked Aaron Mooy and Benjamin Siegrist but insisted adding last season's loan stars Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers on permanent deals doesn't strengthen Celtic's squad in the same way as a new face. The Rangers hero's assessment left Sutton scratching his head, as McCoist said: Effectively, you've made two signings, haven't you? And one of them won't play. You've signed Aaron Mooy, who I'll reserve judgement on, and you've signed an excellent goalkeeper who won't play. The rest of them? They were there already - Jota, Carter-Vickers, these guys..."
Sutton let McCoist have his say before stepping in to point out that Ange Postecoglou had also tied up deals for Moritz Jenz on-loan from Lorient and left-back Alexandro Bernabei. The Celtic favourite said: "What about Moritz Jenz? That's three, then there's Bernabei at left-back where they needed to strengthen.
"Are you not counting Jota or Carter-Vickers? Have you forgotten about them? Have you forgotten about the best centre-half in Scotland last season?"
McCoist insisted he hadn't forgotten about Jota or Carter-Vickers but maintained that his point still stood. He replied: "I mentioned them! But the bottom line is, it's not really strengthening the team when you get loan players you had last season to sign."
McCoist then went on to aim a further light-hearted dig at his club's rivals, or perhaps it was more so a reminder of Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his team's exploits in the Europa League last season.
He quipped: "It'll be interesting to see how Celtic perform under the pressure of Rangers being able to totally concentrate in the league this year without having European finals to deal with. It'll also be interesting to see how Celtic handle the pressure of playing Champions League football which will be relatively new to most of them."
