Does Celtic’s Transfer Policy Make Them Richer Or Stronger? | OneFootball

Celtic Football Club operate a successful player trading model. Over the years, the Hoops have developed and sold a number of prospects for considerable profit. Yet the question remains; does this transfer policy simply make Celtic richer, or is the team now stronger as a result?

The Bhoys currently sit with circa £90m in the bank, according to reports. Some of this bank balance is down to Champions League revenue but much has been acquired from player trading. Nicolas Kuhn has just been sold for £16.5m, the latest exit on the never ending conveyor belt. Last year Matt O’Riley departed for approximately £25m and Jota left for the same fee a year earlier. Other notable sales in the last couple of seasons include Kyogo, who left in January for £10m, Liel Abada for £8m, Carl Starfelt to Celta Vigo for £5m, Josip Juranovic to Union Berlin for a fee in the region of £10m and Giorgios Giakoumakis for £4m. While the mathematicians among you can see that more than £100m has been raised from those standout sales, it must also be noted that those players were key parts of the team.

Two years ago Ange Postecoglou commonly lined up with a starting XI of Hart, Juranovic, Starfelt, Carter-Vickers, Taylor, McGregor, Hatate, O’Riley, Jota, Kyogo, Abada. The likes of Daizen Maeda, Aaron Mooy, and Giakoumakis, were on the bench. Last season Brendan Rodgers selected teams along the lines of: Schmeichel, Johnston, Carter-vickers, Scales, Taylor, Hatate, McGregor, Engels, Maeda, Kyogo, Kuhn. Players like Bernardo, Idah, Trusty and McCowan provided back up.

For all the money brought in over the years, is there much improvement in personnel? Many would feel that the team isn’t getting stronger, but rather staying at an equal standard. If indeed that is the case then one wonders what the point is of the transfer policy, other than to simply make Celtic richer, rather than that money being used to make them stronger.

Looking back at those names from last season, Taylor, Kyogo and Kuhn are obviously no longer at Parkhead. However, Kieran Tierney has come in at left back, while Jota is set to play more of a role this season. That certainly represents progression on the left hand side of the pitch. Meanwhile, there is still work to do in the centre half, midfield, wing and striker areas. Maybe an upturn in ambition, as shown by the signing of players like Engels for £11m will bear fruit by the end of the window.

In terms of output, Celtic have dominated on the domestic scene since 2012, winning almost every league title available to them and racking up doubles and trebles. It cannot be overlooked that the main title challenger went bust and reformed, though the winning of so many one off cup ties is quite extraordinary. In Europe, performances have been pretty poor until last season, when Celtic gave a good account of themselves by progressing through the group and then being seconds away from extra time against Bayern Munich.

Becoming consistent European performers and progressing through a knockout tie in the Champions League will represent tangible improvement, as domestically little more can be achieved. To perform better in Europe, there will need to be more speculation to accumulate – that is the purpose of bringing money into the football club via the player trading model after all.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Are Celtic richer, stronger, or both as a result of the club’s transfer policy?