Tom Boyd says that Celtic fans will have to accept that they are now a stepping stone to the English Premier League.

Just as Celtic hoover up the best talent from smaller Scottish clubs, Parkhead legend Boyd believes the sale of Virgil van Dijk shows where the club are now ranked in the transfer market food chain.

Rather than see it as a negative though, Boyd says that the £34million pumped into Celtic’s coffers in the past few seasons by Southampton alone shows that the club has the right philosophy.

“Celtic seem to have become a feeder club to Southampton like Dundee United are for Celtic,” Boyd said.

“That’s the third player they’ve taken, and they’ve certainly put a good deal of money into Celtic’s bank account over the last few years.

“It is good business, unfortunately that’s the market we’re in now.

“We brought Virgil here from Dutch football and improved him, and now the English Premiership with their bottomless pit of money has come along.

“That’s where Scottish football is, we simply can’t compete with the television revenues these clubs have.

“To try and get Champions League football we need to try to find players we can develop, get the best out of, and sell on.

“Celtic are a worldwide brand and a worldwide club, but unfortunately we don’t get the exposure that they do down in England and therefore don’t have the money.

“At least at this moment in time we’re managing to sell players on for really good sums.”

Boyd, who made 304 appearances for Celtic in a trophy-laden 11-year stay at the club, believes that the Dutchman will cope with the step up to the English game.

“I think he’ll handle it no problem whatsoever,” Boyd said.

“He has everything to go on and make it there, and to become a very important player in the English Premiership.

“He’s confident, strong, good on the ball and a decent defender, so he certainly has all the attributes to be able to go and possibly go on to an even bigger club than Southampton.

“I’ve been really impressed by him.”

Boyd is pleased with the business conducted by Celtic in the transfer window, placing his faith in Ronny Deila and his backroom staff.

He said: “We’ll go by the judgment of the manager and the scouts, because they’ve done well in the past identifying players who can come in and do well before moving on and maintaining that stream of revenue into the club.

“I trust the manager and staff enough to think that these players will settle in quickly and come in to have a good impact on the side.

“Dedryck Boyata has done well, although obviously he’s had a couple of moments where he’s been copying me and scoring the odd own-goal!

“But he’s actually scored some very important goals for us.

“First and foremost though he’s a decent defender. The only thing he needs to brush up on is his use of the ball, which on certain occasions can be quite slack.

“I’m sure the manager and backroom staff will be working on that with him.

“Tyler Blackett started out as a left-back before latterly playing as a centre-back, and with Jozo Simunovic hopefully coming in then he might well be there to cover at left-back.

“We need that cover and competition for Emilio Izaguirre that we haven’t really had. Hopefully the young lad Kieran Tierney will get games too.

“It will help Izzy as well and hopefully push him on.”

“I’ve seen Ryan Christie play against Celtic and he looks a very confident lad that’s good on the ball with an eye for a pass.

“He’s quite tricky as well, so he’s a good 'Celtic-type' player.

“I think it’s fantastic that he’s going back to Inverness initially to aid his development, because if he was coming in to sit on the bench it may hinder his progress.

“I think there’s been a good bit of business done in terms of getting good numbers and quality into the squad, and hopefully that will improve the team.”

Boyd has also backed man-in-form Leigh Griffiths to start for Scotland on Friday night against Georgia, but doesn’t expect him to get the nod.

“He was somebody who bided his time and waited for his opportunity and now he’s first-choice at Celtic,” he said.

“That’s a great credit to him that he’s managed to get his head down and add that maturity to his obvious goal-scoring ability.

“Most managers like to show faith in the guys that have done it for them, so the guy in possession is Steven Fletcher.

“It’s hard though to ignore someone who is banging in the goals like Leigh.

“Leigh would be my choice, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Gordon went with Steven Fletcher.”