THIS is quite a list from Celtic Soccer Show. A quick calculation and we see that selling these ten players has brought in an astonishing £115.2million; money that has fuelled Celtic’s charge towards Ten in a Row and has resulted in the club being the stand-alone dominant force in Scottish football. But did the buying clubs get value for money or did they over pay for a player who ultimately disappointed at his new club? Let’s have a look…

1. KIERAN TIERNEY

Sold this summer to Arsenal for £25million despite being injured. He has played a few games now, most recently in the Europa League where he impressed. Arsenal fans are full of hope that they have unearthed a real bargain for their money as KT looks set to make his Premier League debut this weekend. If they get him fit and keep him fit then there is little doubt that the Gunners really have got a bargain. But the jury is out until he proves his fitness by playing regularly. Celtic, the player and his agent all knew that the selling figure was £25million and despite the injury record in the last year or so, that was achieved. VALUE FOR MONEY 8/10

2. MOUSSA DEMBELE

Caught in the crossfire from last summer’s fall-out between Peter Lawwell and Brendan Rodgers, Dembele called out The Irishman on social media in pretty spectacular fashion just as the summer 2018 transfer window was closing. Lyon seemed to be pulling the strings in the background, something we should be aware of as Manchester United eye up a January move for the former Celtic man who has impressed since moving back to France. Lyon paid Celtic £19.7million for the striker and could double their money and some in January – and Celtic get a slice via the sell-on clause. But it’s not all good news as Lyon are likely to try to repeat the trick by targeting Odsonne Edouard who is currently the talk of French football after scoring ten goals for the French under21s in the last two international breaks. VALUE FOR MONEY 10/10.

Future Liverpool teammates playing against each other in SPL.

3. VIRGIL VAN DIJK

From Celtic to Southampton and on to Liverpool where he established himself as the best defender in World football and drove the Anfield club onto Champions League glory in Madrid back in May. Barcelona’s superstar Lionel Messi has been speaking about the former Celtic Star to Marca. “He is a defender that knows how to judge the timing and wait for the right moment to get in or hold on,” Messi told Marca.“He is very fast and big, but he has a lot of agility for his height. He is fast because of its great stride and is impressive, both in defense and attack because he scores many goals.”

“Virgil van Dijk is one of the best in the world – he is the complete defender, always calm, a great player,” Carles Puyol told the Independent as reported on Empire of the Kop. “The spotlight usually goes to the strikers, so it is nice to see a special defender get deserved recognition.”

Southampton paid Celtic just £13million for the big Dutchman and looking back on that it was a case of daylight robbery. Yet there were people high up at Celtic who believed that they had got a great deal at the time and undoubtedly didn’t fully believe what we were seeing when this Rolls Royce of a footballer somehow ended up signing and playing for Celtic. The large sell-on slice of the subsequent £75million transfer to Liverpool may have eased Parkhead the blushes. Had Liverpool not looked down their noses at the Scottish game they could have saved themselves £60million by dealing directly with Celtic. VALUE FOR MONEY 10/10.

4. VICTOR WAMYAMA

Another sale to Southampton who as a Premier League club were first to realise that there was real value to be had in Scotland and high quality at Celtic particularly when feeding off the signings that John Park and Neil Lennon had brought to Glasgow as the beginning of the push for 10IAR. Wanyama was a star at Southampton after his £12.5million move from Celtic and was sold on to Tottenham for roughly the same money that the Saints paid for him, mostly as big Victor’s contract was running down. A series of injuries has resulted in falling out of the first team picture at Spurs and that could open the door to a return to Glasgow to team-up again with Neil Lennon. Wanyama has made big money in England but you get the feeling that he was at his happiest playing for Celtic. VALUE FOR MONEY 8/10.

5. FRASER FORSTER

Fraser Forster was yet another big money transfer between Celtic and Southampton – this time for £10million. After starring in the Champions League, including that never to be forgotten night against Barcelona in November 2012, Forster really had to move if he wanted to establish himself as England’s Number One. he did get into the national side and was a huge success at Southampton until he suffered a severe injury that was at one time thought to be career threatening. By that time the Saints had signed him on a much improved long term contract and would have expected to break records for a goalkeeper sale to one of the top six sides. That injury left Saints with Forster as the club’s top earner out for a year and then when fully fit relegated to third choice keeper, probably to reduce costs. A loan move back to Celtic allowed Forster to resume playing again and a permanent deal in the summer is on the cards if both clubs can meet each other in the middle and the player himself is prepared to lower his own earnings in order to play for Celtic long-term.
VALUE FOR MONEY 8/10.

6. AIDEN McGEADY

Aiden McGeady’s move to Moscow gave Celtic the funds – around £9.5million – for new manager Neil Lennon to build a team with. With the likes of Hooper, Wanyama, Forster, Ki Sung-Yong and Izaguirre all being brought in that move really kick started Celtic’s 10IAR ambitions. Aiden for that reason is a real Celtic Star and he was a rather special player too. VALUE FOR MONEY 7/10.

7. STUART ARMSTRONG

He had an eye on playing in the English Premier League from the minute he walked in the door at Celtic after Ronny Deila signed him from Dundee Utd. It took the arrival of Brendan Rodgers, who got the best out of the goalscoring midfielder mostly by playing him in his best position, ‘centre-mid’ as the song says. He starred in the Invincible season, signed a one year contract extension and although he faded in the Double Treble year, his agent had enough You Tube material to convince Southampton that the £7million fee was yet another bargain from Celtic. He’s been in and out of the team and his form has been up and down to say the least. There were some rumours in the summer that he might be heading back to Paradise but that was unfounded. As it is he’s a bench warmer at Southampton and is in desperate need of another purple patch period in his career. VALUE FOR MONEY 6/10.

8. STAN PETROV

Stiliyan Petrov signed a new deal at Celtic before heading down to join up with his old Parkhead boss Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa. The £6.5million fee was questionable to begin with, certainly by the supporters at Villa Park. Petrov struggled when he arrived at Celtic from Bulgaria and once again took time to settle in the West Midlands. However history repeated itself as Stan found his feet and went on to be the most accomplished player at Aston Villa, captained the side and was huge fans favourite before illness cruelly intervened. VALUE FOR MONEY 8/10.

9. MARK VIDUKA

He arrived after impressing against Celtic while playing for Croatia Zagreb. The Australian international immediately went AWOL in one of the most bizarre situations ever. He practically caused Celtic’s worst home defeat in the Scottish Cup against Inverness and spat on an opponent away at Dunfermline. Martin O’Neill had a word with the striker to see if there was any possibility of him showing some commitment to the cause but there was none and he went off to Leeds Utd, where he was a real success. Celtic spent the money bringing in Chris Sutton. VALUE FOR MONEY 8/10.

10. KI SUNG-YONG

Ki Sung-Yueng arrived from FC Seoul for a fee of around £2million in January 2010 and was sold to Swansea for a fee of £6million two and a half years later after winning a Scottish Cup and league title at Celtic. Kelvin Wilson gave this little insight about playing for Celtic, talking in 2015. “Celtic Park on a European night has a special pull. Ki Sung-Yueng said that very thing to me during pre-season when we played against each other. It seems every player who leaves Celtic misses it in their own way. I totally understand where they are coming from,” the Englishman said. Ki went on to have a good career at Premier League level. VALUE FOR MONEY 8/10.

So the £115.2million spent shopping for players in the East End of Glasgow has proved to be excellent value for money. It is clear that Celtic have sold no-one a pup.

ALSO ON THE CELTIC STAR…

Gary Hooper joins Wellington Phoenix on a one year deal, the former Celtic striker, who had the chance to go to Iran, opted to sign for the Kiwi side and will wear the Number 88 jersey once again…see HERE.

One Scheidt and Six Magnificently Random Celtic Stories from David Potter. The Celtic historian has been entertaining us with this brilliant feature every day since the weekend and if you’ve missed it so far, it’s well worth grabbing a coffee, sitting down and catching up, some wonderful Celtic stories in there…see HERE.

Celtic’s Bumpy Ride from BR-Exit Disarray to today’s Head of Football Operations Appointment. This brings to an end the BR-Exit debacle at Celtic and allows us to move forward. Hopefully the new man is given the elbow room to do his job without too much interference from above…read the story HERE.