THERE is something obscene about the manner in which Paris St Germain have been spending money this summer. So astronomical are the sums being thrown about they are almost in danger of losing their shock value. You have to remind yourself that the £400m which the club’s Qatari owners have just spent on two players - Neymar and Kylian Mbappe - could comfortably bankroll even Celtic’s playing department for the best part of 15 years. The total market value of their squad is the thick end of a billion pounds.

While it is a disparity of the same order which the likes of tomorrow’s opponents Hamilton must tackle most weeks, Callum McGregor finds it all as “ridiculous” as the rest of us. After all, manager Unai Emery can still only field eleven players at the one time. Poor relations or not, the 24-year-old hopes to have the last laugh on this Tuesday - because this Celtic team have got that priceless first year of Champions League experience under their belts.

This time last season Celtic were going down 7-0 at the Camp Nou on their Champions League opener but it is hard to envisage a similar scenario unfolding on Tuesday night regardless of this gargantuan Gallic outlay. For a start, Celtic are at home, and as Manchester City proved last time out, even the biggest names in world football can be susceptible on big European nights at Parkhead. Secondly, PSG are no Barcelona. They may boast a similarly fearsome attacking trident of Neymar, Mbappe and Edinson Cavani, but their comeuppance against the Catalans proves that they still have plenty to prove at this stage. A 4-0 win in the first leg quickly became a 6-1 calamity in the second. Attack may well be Celtic’s best form of defence, not least because even with their wealth of playing resources, the Parisians are not without their injury problems, with Argentinian superstar Angel di Maria and Brazilian skipper Thiago Silva both already rated doubtful.

“To be honest it’s great for us that we are coming up against players like that and teams like PSG who are setting the bar,” said McGregor. “It’s great to test yourself at that level and see how far we have come as a team. The amount of money spent has been ridiculous but that’s the modern football market. It’s incredible the market value of their team.

“You saw last year in the Champions league that they blew Barcelona away at home and that shows the quality,” he added. “But that 6-1 in the second leg does give you hope. You never know what team is going to show up at Celtic Park. We can try and get after them and if they are not quite at it we might get a result. Teams come to Celtic Park and things have happened in that unbelievable atmosphere.

“Before the Man City game last season, they had won 10 games yet came to Celtic Park and found it to be a totally different game. We got after them and created loads of chances. I’m sure we can go toe to toe with these teams when they come to Celtic Park and we’ve got that crowd behind us.”

Having made his acquaintance in Barcelona colours last year, McGregor is no stranger to coming up against Neymar. As much as he can appreciate that extra bit of ability which the world’s best possess, he feels Celtic will be far better equipped than the “tough lesson” they learned at the Camp Nou last year.

“It’s obvious that these boys are top, top players - you can see that when you place against them,” he added. “There’s that wee shift and they are thinking two steps ahead of everyone else on the field. But our players won’t be fazed by it. When the games comes around it won’t be a case of respecting them too much. You want to press, get after them and show how good you are. We are on this stage for a reason.

“I think it will be a different story in terms of us getting closer to PSG this time. You saw PSG going there [the Camp Nou] later in the competition and they got hammered as well. We’re a much better side than we were last season. We’re going into the group feeling we are very much a part of it. We’re not going in to make up the numbers.”

McGregor was at Hampden yesterday to launch the 2017-18 Match Attax football sticker range, somewhat ironically given his controversial omission from the Scotland squad for the matches against Lithuania and Malta. While he that the national team’s back-to-back wins meant he could have “no complaints” over his non-selection, what better chance to “catch the eye” of the national team manager before the crucial double header against Slovakia and Slovenia next month than Champions League play.

“The boys did well and it was two good performances and two good wins – so no complaints,” he said. “It’s nice that people are recognising that I should be in there but I stay off social media and phone ins and just focus on my clubs stuff and getting feedback from my own manager. Obviously it’s great to have the backing of my club manager and good to hear that. But for me, it’s just about trying to do well at Celtic and hopefully catch the eye.”