Pat Nevin reckons the Old Firm are set for a titanic battle next season and both clubs’ hopes could rest on a wing and a player.
The former Scotland international was one of the trickiest wingers of his generation, carving out a career by tormenting full-backs from his early days at Clyde to his last club Motherwell, with successful stints at Chelsea, Everton, Tranmere and Kilmarnock in between.
So when he pinpoints Celtic bringing Jota back from Benfica on a permanent deal and Rangers holding on to Ryan Kent as being pivotal to their respective chances of success, Nevin is worth listening to.
The 58-year-old pundit saw enough of Jota in his role as a BBC 5Live analyst last season to be convinced boss Ange Postecoglou’s desire to turn the loan move into a long-term contract, even if it costs £6million, would be money well spent.
As for Kent, Nevin reckons if the former Liverpool kid can get back to the form he showed the season before last – while recognising he wasn’t too shabby in the one that has just ended either – he can still be the man to
give Gio van Bronckhorst’s side the X-factor next season.
Nevin, speaking to BoyleSports, said: “Both of them are super players. I was at a couple of Celtic games this season and Jota was outstanding, he’s a real quality player, certainly for the SPFL.
“When he’s on it, confident, his arrogance on the ball is staggering. There’s a guy I used to play with at Tranmere, he actually looks like him, Johnny Morrissey, he’s the same type of player.
“Jota’s unstoppable in Scotland when he’s in that sort of form. So it would be great for Celtic to buy him and keep him.”
Nevin recognises £6m is a hefty fee for any Scottish club but with Champions League cash sloshing around in the coffers, he believes that kind of outlay for the Portuguese winger is justified.
He said: “There is talk of £6m for the fee which is fine if you’re an English club but it’s not as easy as that for Celtic, the money is tighter.
“They have got Champions League football to look forward to after winning the league so there’s money there but they have to spend it wisely.
“It’s a lot of money for Celtic but the fans deserve it because of the way they follow their team.
“Ange Postecoglou has come in and done a magnificent job but he’s brought a lot of players in and he’s not stopped yet.
“He has to keep on strengthening though, all he has to do is look across at Rangers, they are strengthening all the time.”
New faces will almost certainly arrive at Ibrox. But Nevin reckons that hanging onto Kent, who is going into the final year of his contract and could be the subject of bids from England and abroad after his performances in the run to the Europa League final, will be critical to van Bronckhorst’s hopes of success.
Nevin said: “Kent is a class act, the player with the most vision at Rangers, without a doubt, by a distance.
“Until about a year ago, he was among the most obvious in Scotland who could make the jump to the Premier League.
“He had that game awareness that you need at the top level as an attacker. But even so, it is tough and the same goes for Jota.
“The jump from the SPFL to the Premier League as an attacking creator is different from a defender.
“To be able to create goals at that level on a weekly basis is really hard.
“Both of them could have a good dig at it but I hope both stay in Scotland and I think they are both suited to it.”
While Nevin can’t wait to see the Glasgow giants lock horns in the new season, he admits that the Scottish national team will have him on the edge of his seat in September as they try to secure top spot in their Nations League group.
The former winger, who was capped 28 times by his country, was a team-mate of Scotland boss Steve Clarke at Chelsea.
But it’s not blind loyalty that has convinced him his mate can lead the nation to better times. It’s simply his faith in Clarke’s ability as a coach.
Nevin said: “He’s been brilliant. He has finally got us to a major championship and it’s been a long time. It was that long ago I was still playing for them around 98!
“We got within a hair’s breadth of going to the World Cup, they ran out of steam against Ukraine. It was pure exhaustion, they had a stinker. But he has maximised the potential of that group of players, game in, game out, for a long time.
“So it was tough to watch the Ukraine game but if there’s anyone you want to lose to it’s them I guess.
“But can Scotland go and play Ukraine again, in the Nations League and win?
“Absolutely. They definitely can. They have Armenia, who were terrible in the two games we played them, Ireland and Ukraine in the Nations League. The Ireland game I was at and it was poor from Scotland again, so there have been two poor performances. People will start thinking, what’s going on? Is it falling apart? Should they look for a new manager? Absolutely not.
“He’s done a brilliant job to get them this far. Look at how they played when they were doing well, it’s high energy.
“If everyone’s fit, there is a real speed and intensity to the game.
“You try and do that in June at the end of the season when players are injured and exhausted.
“I watched John McGinn who is all-action when he plays for Villa and was the same for Hibs, he was out of it against Ukraine.
“He was not fit and this is from a big fan of his.
“So it’s about the amount of games they had played. They were running on empty.
“I’ve got every belief that when it gets to the next round of games in September, Scotland have got every chance, it’s still in their hands.Scotland will be in the mix, they’ll push Ukraine all the way.”
