Celtic transfers: How much Celtic have made from player sales since 2018 versus how much has been spent

With Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers planning to work with a new recruitment staff heading into the summer transfer window, the two have been placed on gardening leave until the end of the season. Lawwell, the son of chairman Peter, was criticized by some Celtic supporters for what they saw as the team’s shortcomings over the previous two transfer windows. Lawwell was hired in 2022.Among Celtic’s seven summer additions, most of whom are young and inexperienced, only Luis Palma has made ten or more league starts. This comes after regular starters Jota, Aaron Mooy, and Carl Starfelt were lost to injury.Celtic signed only two players in the most recent transfer window – on-loan Norwich striker Adam Idah and former Rapid Vienna winger Nicolas Kuhn – leaving fans unhappy with the level of investment in the squad as Rangers overhauled them at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

The Celtic records, which reveal a record revenue of £85.2 million for the last half of the previous year and a bank balance of £67.3 million, are another source of apparent annoyance. There is a belief that more funds ought to have been allocated to bolstering the team in order to compete for the lucrative slot in the new Champions League group stage format, which will be implemented for the upcoming season.

However, what is the true cost of Celtic’s recent transfer expenditures and what is the amount of money recovered through player sales? Is there merit to the criticism?

Over the previous six years, dating back to the summer of 2018, Celtic have spent about £29 million less on transfers than they have been paid in transfer fees, according to transfermarkt.com. According to the numbers, the club lost £141.66 million on player departures during the course of 12 transfer windows, while spending £112.5 million on new players.

£50 million of the revenue comes from the sales of Jota to Al-Ittihad in the summer of last year and Kieran Tierney to Arsenal in 2019. Both players sold for club records of £25 million. Other significant sums recovered include £13.5 million from Brentford for Kristoffer Ajer that summer, £14 million from Crystal Palace for Odsonne Edouard in 2021, £18 million from Lyon for Moussa Dembele in 2018, and £7.5 million from Union Berlin for Josip Juranovic.

According to the data, Celtic has spent somewhat less on transfers than they have made from player sales. Considering the club’s financial situation, this might be seen as either astute business management or as an imbalance in favor of making money rather than investing it.

Unquestionably, Celtic has been successful in selling players for a significant profit. Matt O’Riley, who cost the club £1.5 million when he signed from MK Dons in 2022 and was the target of an unsuccessful £18 million deal from Atletico Madrid in January, is expected to be the next high-profile departure.