Celtic and Rangers to England is "inevitable"

A move by Glasgow Celtic and Rangers to the Premiership in England is "inevitable" says the majority shareholder in the Scottish champions.

Dermot Desmond spoke earlier this month about talks taking place for the move to happen but the English Premiership have denied any discussions have been held over the move or that plans exist to bring the Scottish clubs south.

"I don't know when it will happen but to me it's inevitable," Desmond told 'The Guardian'.

"It's very simple, there's no mystery to it. Commercially it would work because the audiences would increase - in Ireland, Scotland, globally - then the advertising revenue would increase. Second, from a football standpoint, would the Premier League be better with Celtic and Rangers in it?"

"I'd like to think so. That's progress - for everybody."

Desmond also played down the view that UEFA would not allow the move.

"I don't think UEFA are looking at boundaries," he added. "What about Monaco? That's a sovereign state, they play in France. What about the Welsh clubs? They can join the Premier League. Nobody owns Celtic except the shareholders. We can move Celtic anywhere. This is not an anti-Scottish agenda. It is a question of whether Scottish clubs fly the Scottish flag in their own back yard of further afield."

Rangers chairman David Murray said yesterday that the two Glasgow clubs should move to the Premiership and a new television contract for the English league will be negotiated in 2003. If Manchester United maintain their domination in England - which is likely - sponsors and advertisers will look to bring in the two Scottish giants.

But Murray and Desmond have not addressed any possible moves to create a European Super League. Rangers and Celtic would want to be involved and any such league would cancel the Premiership's future.