Rangers legend Stuart McCall thinks the Scottish Premiership title race will “hot up even more” next season when his former team will return to the top flight to battle arch-rivals Celtic.
Currently Celtic, who are gunning for their fifth consecutive Scottish Premiership title, are a point clear at the top of the table with a game in hand, with Aberdeen and Heart of Midlothian being in second and third spots respectively.
The Hoops have managed to defend their league titles despite not spending huge amounts on players for the last few seasons.
But McCall is of the opinion that Celtic may have to rethink their approach if they want to claim the Scottish Premiership title next season, with Rangers returning to the division for the first time since they had to start in the fourth tier, following their liquidation in 2012.
The former midfielder also believes Aberdeen and Hearts will challenge for the Scottish Premiership title too in the 2016/17 campaign, thereby making the title race a more interesting affair.
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“Celtic haven’t spent the money of previous years and they’ve increasingly gone down the younger route”, he was quoted as saying by the Herald Scotland.
“We’ve seen in the last twelve months that it is young Scottish boys like [Ryan] Christie, [Stuart] Armstrong, [Gary] Mackay-Steven and [Scott] Allan that they’ve brought in, and if they don’t win the league this year there will be trouble.
“It will hot up even more next season. It is going to be really interesting with Rangers back, Aberdeen strong and Hearts still improving. Those teams can spend a bit more because they’re getting crowds in now, which will make them stronger.
“Hearts are getting sell-outs every time now and Aberdeen are getting big crowds. They’ve brought better players in and the league should be really competitive with big fan bases that generate finances.”
