IRISH businessman and Celtic FC majority shareholder Dermot Desmond believes the Old Firm will be playing in a ‘British Premiership’ within 10 years.
Talk of Celtic and Rangers joining England’s Premier League has lingered in the background of their rivalry for some time, but without ever coming close to fruition.
Indeed, the notion had all but been dismissed following the fall from grace of Rangers, who are currently in the Scottish Championship, but Desmond remains confident a solution will be found within the next decade.
"I think technology is going to change and evolve how football is sold in the future,” he told STV.
"Before it was a monopoly with either terrestrial TV or satellite TV, now everybody has the ability to broadcast their results and performances.
"In the future I think there will be different types of negotiations between teams and leagues that will evolve into more competitive leagues in the British Isles.
"I'm taking a 10-year view, what we see in the English Premiership today I don't think will be around in 10 years' time, I think there will be a British Premiership.
"In Italy and in Spain you have the bigger clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid who negotiate their own football contracts, because they are more advantageous to them.
"I think that will happen in the UK with Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal and then I think they will institute a change in the structure of the league."
Premier League teams overwhelmingly rejected a plan for the Glasgow giants to be brought into their top flight six years ago, but Desmond is determined to raise the possibility once again.
In a further interview with Sky Sports, he added: "We would like to compete in the Holy Grail in England. It will bring money into Scotland and rekindle football in Scotland having (Manchester) United, Arsenal and others.
"Maybe it's going to be 10 years but it's inevitable. Rangers and Celtic are among the top 10 teams in Britain and some of the biggest teams in the world and they should be competing at the highest level."
