For so long now, one of the MOST common sentences relating to Celtic transfers has been the “player trading model” which can be given far more attention in recent times.
Having a look through the recent documents released by the club relating to finances, it is shown that this model is fundamental to the way Celtic operate with the club having accumulated £97 million in profits in the last five years.
#CelticFC have made their largest ever player sales in the last five years, including Kieran Tierney to #AFC £24m and Moussa Dembelé to Olympique Lyonnais £20m. That said, very few big money sales have been made this season. pic.twitter.com/g0X26CcVFe
— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) November 14, 2022
The core of the players who have moved on from the club were brought into the first team by Brendan Rodgers with this all beginning during his reign at Celtic and being passed on to Neil Lennon and Ange Postecoglou.
Moussa Dembele was the first of Rodgers team to depart for a significant fee as the Frenchman joined Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais for a fee of £20 million [SkySports]. This set a new record fee received in recent times.
That was then followed the next year with academy graduate Kieran Tierney heading south to Arsenal with the defender going for £25 million.
As covid hit, the Hoops decided to not sell any assets the following season which came back to haunt them as their bid to win ten in a row imploded with Ange Postecoglou facing a huge ‘rebuild’ upon his arrival in Glasgow.
Two of the players which headed out the door amongst the summer window were Kristoffer Ajer and Odsonne Edouard who accumulated fees of almost £30 million.
A year on, and once again the Hoops didn’t sell any of their key assets during the window but the manager has already made it clear that some of the current first team starts won’t be at Celtic forever.
Postecoglou has already been a mastermind in the transfer market and knows how to properly reinvest back into the team which will be key as Celtic look to progress and make further strides in European football.
