AS the dust settles following the transfer window slamming shut once again (it never closes gently, does it?), the managers of Glasgow’s big two will probably feel that they have come out ahead.

In the green half of the city, Brendan Rodgers will be pleased that Celtic didn’t lose any players who would be considered first-team regulars, while they strengthened where most needed at right-back with the acquisition of Jeremy Toljan from Borussia Dortmund. They also bolstered their attacking options with the arrival of Timothy Weah and Oliver Burke.

In the blue corner, Steven Gerrard got shot of some of his fringe players too, mostly out on loan in the cases of Jordan Rossiter or Eduardo Herrera, while the lump of deadwood that was Umar Sadiq was sent back to Roma. Only the loss of Ovie Ejaria back to Liverpool probably vexed the Ibrox boss even slightly.

In terms of arrivals, prodigal son Steven Davis returned from Southampton, and the marquee name of Jermain Defoe arrived from Bournemouth. They also had the bonus of getting Glen Kamara in early from Dundee for a nominal fee.

What is striking though when you look at both of those lists, is that those who have been brought in to make an immediate impact will be here only transiently. Every one of them bar Kamara, who is far from certain to be considered a starter in the Rangers midfield, is a loan player.

Celtic did of course spend money signing Vakoun Issouf Bayo, Maryan Shved, Andrew Gutman and Manny Perez, but with the exception of Bayo, none of these players will be seen in a Celtic jersey before next season at the earliest having been farmed back out to the clubs from whence they came.

That displays a modicum at least of long-term planning, but the ones who could come in and help Celtic to another league title or perhaps treble, as well as making an impact in the Europa League, will be on their bike as soon as the double decker gets back from the end of season celebrations. If it gets out of the garage at all, I should caveat.

Rangers, for their part, didn’t bring in any permanent signings beyond Kamara. Yes, Defoe is scheduled to be here for next season too, but at 36, he’s hardly a long-term project.

It is perhaps a sign of where even the biggest fish in the small pond of Scottish football are now swimming that in order to attract players of any sort of established quality, they either have some development left in them or are coming to the end of their careers.

That doesn’t have to be a negative thing, per se. I mean, how else would Celtic bring in a player like Burke, who has racked up the best part of £30million in transfer fees already? Or how would Rangers bring in Defoe if they had to foot the entirety of his wage packet?

What it does prove though is that with the league title a live issue for the first time in many a year, and with the race not confined to Celtic and Rangers, that a great deal of money is being ploughed into short-term gain even if it might cause a little long-term pain as it limits opportunities for their own young players to develop in the first-team.

With so much at stake, given Celtic’s proximity to 10-in-a-row and Rangers in with a shout at least of clawing that away from them, throwing everything at these next few months is the priority.

It should make for an exciting run-in, especially with Aberdeen showing no signs of going away and Kilmarnock recruiting well too, albeit on a short-term basis themselves with the likes of Youssouf Mulumbu and Alex Bruce.

The worry would be that by exploiting the loan market, as these clubs are entitled to, it comes at a cost of more than just trophies or pounds and pence. It could cost one of their own promising youngsters their chance.