CELTIC can increase their income from sponsorship and boost their chances of competing in Europe as a result – by following the lead of Ajax, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City and buying clubs in other continents.

The Parkhead club, who are poised to win their sixth consecutive Scottish title, continue to perform as well off the field as they do on it.

They announced yesterday they had almost doubled their revenue to £61.2 million and had made a profit of £21.6 million in the last six months of 2016.

Read more: Champions League qualification helps Celtic to nearly double their revenue to £61.2 million

However, they still lag far behind their counterparts in the “Big Five” leagues in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain financially due to the sum they bank from broadcasting rights being significantly less.

Their chances of competing with the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Real Madrid in the Champions League are non-existent due to the colossal salaries those clubs can offer players.

It is a source of constant frustration to the board of the Glasgow club, who will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their historic 1967 European Cup triumph this year, as they have 50,000 season ticket holders and one of the largest fan bases in the world.

Tim Bridge, a senior partner at the Sports Business Group at Deloitte and one of the authors of their football money league, believes Celtic could benefit from exploring a route which several major clubs have gone down in recent years – multi-club ownership.

The City Football Group, the holding company which runs Manchester City, also has stakes in A-League club Melbourne City in Australia, MLS franchise New York City FC in the United States, and J1 League outfit Yokohama F Marinos in Japan.

Read more: Champions League qualification helps Celtic to nearly double their revenue to £61.2 million

Elsewhere, Spanish club Atletico Madrid, who were beaten in their second Champions League final in three years last summer, have raised their profile considerably in the lucrative Asian market by becoming co-owners of Atletico de Kolkata in the Indian Super League.

In addition, Dutch giants Ajax are also the parent club and majority shareholder in Ajax Cape Town, a club which competes in the Premier Soccer League in South Africa.

Bridge explained there are numerous advantages to owning clubs in other continents - and suggested that Celtic directors would already have looked into the merits of expanding their empire outside Scotland.

“Celtic are an extremely well run club,” said Bridge. “The best thing for Celtic to do, as they are doing, is to run, a very tight ship. I would imagine they budget around qualifying for the Europa League and if they make the Champions League then it is a bonus. The players’ contracts will reflect that appropriately.

“From a financial perspective they are secure even if they don’t make the Champions League. That is undoubtedly the best and most sensible approach. It is a very well run business.

“When you look at Celtic’s numbers and compare them to some of the other clubs in the money league, in terms of match day they are up there in the top 30 clubs with what they make. But it is unfortunately the broadcast figure that lets them down.

“The SPFL lags behind many of their European peers and doesn’t give the financial backing to Celtic to allow them to challenge.

“Going forward, they have to look towards new and innovative ways of making money and giving themselves a competitive advantage that allows them to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.

“That could involve buying the best talent at a young age and then developing that talent to either move on or stay at Celtic and win trophies and progress to the Champions League.

Read more: Champions League qualification helps Celtic to nearly double their revenue to £61.2 million

“I would imagine the people in the Celtic boardroom are working very hard to try and discover innovative revenue-generating possibilities.

Bridge added: “If you look at the environment around football at the moment you can see what Manchester City’s owners do in terms of buying other clubs around the world. We have seen Atletico Madrid’s owners do something very similar.

“With the strength of the brand and the following that Celtic have globally that may be something that they may consider in the future. Who knows? That is just me speculating.

“There are two aspects to it. One, we have seen clubs purchasing other clubs as a way of developing players, to give their youth players the opportunity to play competitive first team football at a good standard.

“But the Manchester City model has been that the collective power of two clubs, three clubs or even four clubs in their case in the commercial market is more attractive to commercial sponsors than just one single club. That is the reason they have gone down that route.

“They have got a club in New York, they have got a club in Melbourne and they have got a club in Japan. The idea is they provide their commercial partners with opportunities in all of those markets. A potential sponsor will invest more heavily if they can see they are getting exposure in other countries.

Read more: Champions League qualification helps Celtic to nearly double their revenue to £61.2 million

“Theoretically, somebody can own as many clubs as they want. The only issue is they can’t then compete against each other. If you owned two clubs in Europe they couldn’t play against each other in the same European competition. There are reasons why you wouldn’t make those investments. But some clubs see the gain as bigger than the potential loss.

“Anecdotally, you would have to suggest that it would increase your global fan base. I still feel that overall a fan is most likely to support the club in their territory. But by nature you take an interest in the other club.

“If you were to make a long list of alternative ways to make money and develop revenue then that might be one avenue that Celtic might consider given that other clubs have done so.”