It has been ages since I have done one of these, over five months in fact, and that was a look at Newcastle’s 7 biggest sales which did terribly and I decided not to do anymore. I’ve just about recovered from that trauma now though and I’m ready to log in and be incredibly disappointed at the number of people watching today’s video on the live stats when it comes out…
Celtic have had a shrewd transfer policy of signing talented and hungry young players for a number of years now which has often seen them turn a profit in the transfer market. Whilst Celtic can offer a player the chance to play in Europe at a huge football club with a huge fanbase that will routinely challenge for and win trophies, the finances of the Scottish Premiership in comparison to Europe’s top leagues can sometimes leave the powerless to keep hold of certain players.
Here are Celtic’s 7 most lucrative player sales: Where are they now?
7. Stan Petrov – Retired
Keeping the likes of Mark Viduka and Ki Sung-yeung out of this seven, Stan Petrov was a big fan favourite at both Parkhead and Villa Park. By far the oldest transfer in this seven, the Bulgaria star left Glasgow for Birmingham back in 2006. Signed by John Barnes for £2.8 million in 1999, Petrov departed after seven seasons, three league titles and one Celtic Player of the Year award. He was similarly excellent for Aston Villa, where he won two Player of the Year awards, before his career was cut short by a diagnosis of acute leukemia. Thankfully, five months later, Petrov announced that he was in remission, but he couldn’t get back into Villa’s first team plans.
6. Stuart Armstrong – Southampton
Stuart Armstrong of Southampton FC, Wouter Burger of Feyenoord during the Pre-season Friendly match between Feyenoord and Southampton FC at the Kuip on July 28, 2019 in Rotterdam, The…
Talented midfielder Stuart Armstrong was an excellent servant to Celtic, spending three-and-a-half years with the club and twice making the PFA Scotland Team of the Year in that time. He had already earnt rave reviews at Dundee United, before Celtic signed both him and Gary Mackay-Steven for a combined total of £2 million. He left the club last summer in a move to Southampton, in a deal which reportedly saw Celtic pocket an initial £7 million, and potentially more subject to add-ons. He made 32 appearances for the Saints last season and is unsurprisingly still at St Mary’s.
5. Aiden McGeady – Sunderland
Republic of Ireland international Aiden McGeady came through the youth ranks at Celtic, before establishing himself in the first team as a really skilful and dangerous wide man. He was linked with a number of top clubs after a particularly impressive 2007-08 campaign, but ended up making a somewhat surprising £9.5 million move to Spartak Moscow of the Russian Premier League. That probably wasn’t the best move for his development, and when he returned to Britain at Everton he looked a little out of his depth. He has been with Sunderland since 2017, where he has been outstanding, and Sunderland fans will be delighted that he signed a new one year extension at the Stadium of Light this summer.
4. Fraser Forster – Southampton
Fraser Forster of Southampton reacts during the friendly match between SCR Altach and FC Southampton at Cashpoint Arena on July 14, 2019 in Altach, Austria.
Towering English shot stopper Fraser Forster initially joined Celtic on-loan from Newcastle United, but after two impressive loan spells, he was signed on a permanent for £2 million in 2012. He kept improving over the next two campaigns, winning Celtic’s Player of the Year award in both the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons and receiving a call-up for England, before Southampton brought him back south of the border for £10 million. Following three-and-a-half years as first choice on the south coast, Forster somewhat fell off the map last season. Following a 5-2 drubbing at the hands of Tottenham on Boxing Day 2017, Forster has basically been totally out of contention, and he is now the Saints third choice behind Alex McCarthy and Angus Gunn.
3. Victor Wanyama – Tottenham
There’s a chance Victor Wanyama could have left Tottenham by the time this video comes out, with me having to make it a little but in advance and the 28-year-old Kenyan being linked with a move to West Ham at the time of recording. Another player who swapped Celtic for Southampton, Wanyama joined the Saints for £12.5 million after two really impressive seasons in Scotland. He continued to impress in the Premier League, but with only 12 months left on his contract, Southampton had to sell him for a loss when he joined Tottenham for £11 million in 2016. He’s had three seasons in North London, but as mentioned, he has been linked with moves elsewhere this summer.
2. Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool during warm-up before the pre-season friendly match between Liverpool and Napoli at BT Murrayfield on July 28, 2019 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Four out of the seven players in this video left Celtic to join Southampton, and the Premier League outfit have seen pretty decent return on their investment in Glasgow. That is particularly true of Virgil van Dijk, who joined the Saints for £13 million after just two seasons with Celtic, one of which saw him win the club’s Player of the Year award. That made him the most expensive Scottish Premiership sale in history at the time, but after two-and-a-half years of dominant displays on the south coast, also winning one Player of the Year award, he was sold to Liverpool for £75 million in January 2018. That made him the most expensive centre-back of all time, but it still looks like good business by the Reds.
1. Moussa Dembele – Lyon
An inspired piece of business by Celtic, Moussa Dembele is evidence of the Hoops transfer policy working to perfection. Having failed to agree a new deal with Fulham, where he was very highly rated, Celtic snapped up the 19-year-old on a free transfer. Having scored 17 goals the previous season for Fulham, he scored 32 in his debut campaign at Parkhead. He was rather less prolific the following season, and a move away from Celtic in the summer of 2018 always looked likely. The Frenchman ended up joining Lyon for just shy of £20 million, where he bagged 20 goals in 45 games last season.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
