Get me the dough and Iâll get you the deals.. FOR any player the Champions League is a big deal.
But Neil Lennon has told his Celtic stars it may mean a bumper NEW one.
Lennonâs side are two games from mixing it with Europeâs best.
Only the Swedish champions Helsingborgs stand in the way of the UEFA promised land â and a ÂŁ15million cash windfall.
That money would give the boss the chance to dip into the transfer market and freshen up his squad.
But Lennon has revealed he plans to repay his current stars by handing out better contracts and giving them the chance to take on the best sides around.
Lennon said: âI want to be true to the players that are here already because these are the guys who will have got us there, into the Champions League.
âI want to give them the opportunity to play at that level.
âIâd be looking to maybe extend a few contracts as well as a reward for some of their displays.
âBut, again, weâll cross that bridge when we come to it.
âI do have some players in mind who Iâd like to offer new deals but Iâll keep it under wraps for now.â
They say that money talks but Lennon reckons itâs the Champions League theme tune thatâll be music to his playersâ ears.
He added: âIt shouldnât be a great incentive for the players.
âNot compared to playing in the Champions League. We havenât done it for a few years and they are young and talented.
âI want them to take the next step â to enhance themselves. To enhance reputations and develop.
âThey will become better footballers playing at that level and the experience will benefit them for a very long time.
âThe rewards, the bonuses, the incentives are all there for them.
âBut particularly for us, just to play there, sample it, taste it and play the games would be great.â
What a week it could be for Celticâs finances.
Their debt was reported to be ÂŁ7m at the turn of the year and they could all but wipe that out with the sale of Ki Sung-Yueng.
Add another ÂŁ15m to sit at Europeâs top table and itâs just a whopping figure mounting up.
But cautious Lennon added: âI would imagine the Ki deal will definitely go through, but as for the Champions League?
âI donât want to get too excited about it just yet.
âI have got to temper the expectation as I donât want us to go out there and fall flat on our face. There has to be an edge to the way we play the game.
âIf we can match the level of performance we managed in Helsinki then itâll take a good team to beat us.â
In football terms Celts are through on goal with just the keeper to beat.
Helsingborgs are a decent outfit. But had anyone offered Lenny the Swedes as opponents before the draw was made surely heâd have grabbed it.
He added: âItâs a great opportunity for us all, yeah. But you donât want to put any extra pressure on them.
âWe use this word âshouldâ quite a lot. âWe should do this, we should do thatâ.
âBut itâs harder putting it into practice than verbally. Theyâve got to go out with the same mindset they had in the two games with Helsinki.
âHopefully the boys who have had niggling injuries can come in and freshen things up. But itâs going to be difficult.
âThere are a lot of good teams out there that weâre not aware of at times.
âI wouldnât say that weâre ignorant of it but we donât take too much notice of other countries. Other countries are developing all the time, at club and international level and Sweden is a prime example of that.
âTheir international side seems to qualify for every major tournament, as opposed to Scotland.
âBut in terms of what weâre trying to achieve, the target is there. It has been there since we came back on July 2.â
Lennon was determined to play down the importance of tonightâs game as he talked about it at the Celtic team hotel yesterday.
He added: âWe do this all the time â we put everything in black and white.
âIf we donât get in the Champions League itâs another year to wait and a year down the line but itâs not an ageing team.
âIt would be great for them, the way they have developed, to get to the next stage.
âWe want to be there. Itâs not a disaster if we donât, but financially it would be a hit.â
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