MARK McGhee has predicted the arrival of high-profile figures Brendan Rodgers at Celtic and Joey Barton at Rangers respectively will energise the whole of Scottish football next season - and believes the national team can benefit.

An incredible crowd of over 10,000 Celtic supporters turned out to welcome Rodgers, the former Watford, Reading, Swansea City and Liverpool manager, to Parkhead on Monday evening.

And the following day the signing of Barton, the ex-Manchester City, Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers midfielder, by Rangers sparked huge excitement among followers of the Ibrox club.

Celtic have won the Scottish title by comfortable margins during the last four seasons, despite spirited challenges from Aberdeen in the last two campaigns, as Rangers have made their way through the lower league.

The Scotland squad had a sizeable Celtic contingent during their unsuccessful Euro 2016 qualifying campaign; Scott Brown, Craig Gordon, Leigh Griffiths and Charlie Mulgrew were all involved to varying degrees.

McGhee, the Scotland assistant who is also the manager of Ladbrokes Premiership club Motherwell, feels that having more intense competition domestically will enable the country to perform better at international level.

“I think it (the arrival of Rodgers and Barton) is hopefully going to drag everything up a little bit,” he said. “I think also having Rangers back in the competition, regardless of who is at the helm of Celtic, is really important.

“For instance, for Celtic players it will be really good for them to have the focus of having Rangers back. I think we at Scotland can only benefit from it.

“We haven’t qualified for the Euros, but not because Rangers weren’t in the Premier League. But I think it will be a positive thing now. What effect it has had on the national team up until now I cannot measure.

“It has never been in any doubt that Celtic and Rangers both have that appeal. Celtic have gone down other ways in the past and now they have chosen someone who has been managing at the top of the English game. I think that is a big coup for Scottish football.”

Rodgers, who came close to leading Liverpool to their first English title in 24 years back in 2014, surprised many people in the game when he chose to join Celtic instead of waiting for another position in the Premier League to become available.

But McGhee, who first encountered Rodgers during his time in charge of Reading, feels the Irishman’s affinity with Celtic and the chance to play at a high level in Europe will have been appealing to him.

“Brendan married the daughter of a good friend of mine,” he said. “I have always been aware of him. I’ve not been in touch with Brendan for a long, long time. I think the last time I saw him was at an airport when we were both coming back from our holidays.

“But I have always been aware of the connection to Brendan. He was a young player at Reading prior to me arriving and then went on to play for a friend’s club at Newbury. He was around the football club, so I have been aware of Brendan.’

“He has said himself about his affection for Celtic, so in that respect it’s not a surprise. Celtic are still a big club, no doubt about it. At this stage Brendan probably wasn’t being offered a job that offered him Champions League. At Celtic he can get Champions League experience if he comes and performs at that that level the world is his oyster.”

Rodgers is sure to strengthen Celtic significantly during the summer and the capture of Barton, who helped Burnley win promotion to the English Premier League this season and was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year, will improve Rangers dramatically too.

McGhee, whose team was thrashed 7-0 by Celtic in Ronny Deila’s last match in charge earlier this month, insisted the moves being made by the Old Firm clubs to increase their chances of success next term would have little impact on him at Motherwell.

“Celtic finished 20 points, or whatever it was, above us,” he said. “If they finish another 20 points above us it’s not really going to make any difference to us. It’s still Celtic and we beat them then went there and got cuffed. That’s just what is going to happen.

“It doesn’t change the rest of it for us. We will still be playing the Kilmarnocks and the Hearts and the Aberdeens for our position in the league and not so much Rangers and Celtic.”