Is Celtic’s transfer model fit for purpose? Part Two – Mikey Johnston, Oh and Kyogo | OneFootball

I wrote an article yesterday morning on The Celtic Star in which I stated I was going to be focusing on transfer activity not just involving the current situation at Celtic but also transfers involving some of our more recent former players who are once again on the move after leaving Glasgow in the past year or so.

I will be also looking at the wider picture and trying to assimilate whether or not our transfer model is currently failing. Yesterday I focused on the imminent transfer of Nicolas Kuhn to Como, one where I felt we have failed to get as much for a star player as we should have.

Nicolas Kuhn on his way to Como. Photo social media

This brings me on to some of the fees being mentioned when it comes to players who we have let go over the past year, and how their value has somehow managed to increase in that time, with none of them having done particularly well at their new club. The one that really caught my attention was the recent story that Mikey Johnston could have been heading to Brazilian club Flamengo for £5m. That would have been a £2m increase in what West Brom paid us last summer.

Over 40 games last season he scored three and assisted five goals. Nothing in them stats would indicate the player now being worth more than he was a year ago when he was coming off the back of a fantastic half a season loan at WBA where he scored seven goals and provided one assist in only 18 games. Surely if West Brom can get £5m after a relatively poor season at the Hawthorns we could have got much more when he impressed there on loan, especially when there were multiple teams in the Championship interested?

Getting £3m from WBA for Mikey Johnston almost became a joke amongst Celtic fans at the time

Getting £3m from WBA for Mikey Johnston almost became a joke amongst Celtic fans at the time, and many praised the board for pulling off such a masterstroke. It doesn’t look like such a great deal now however. Even though the deal seems to have fallen through – due to a backlash from West Brom fans – it still shows what clubs are willing to pay for a player with Mikey’s attributes.

AA Gent vs KRC Genk Hyeon-Gyu Oh (9) of Genk celebrates the 1-1 equalizer goal from teammate Yira Sor (14) of Genk during the Jupiler Pro League season 2024 – 2025 matchday 9 game in the Champions Play offs between AA Gent and KRC Genk on May 18 , 2025 in Gent, Belgium. (Photo by David Catry Isosport) Gent Belgium

Feyenoord have had a £9m bid turned down but are still keen on signing Hyeon-Gyu Oh

We then have Korean striker Hyeon-Gyu Oh who we sold for between £2.5m to £4.5m dependant on performance related bonuses. Transfer news surrounding Oh now state that Feyenoord have had a £9m bid turned down but are still keen. In 41 games he has scored 12 and assisted three goals, pretty similar to his stats at Celtic actually. Oh was a player who I always liked and thought he had a lot of potential. Many celebrated the fact we got what we did for him, the fact that he is now worth two or three times more after an average season in Belgium proves we sold him on the cheap.

Kyogo Furuhashi of Stade Rennais during the Ligue 1 match between Stade Rennais and RC Strasbourg on February 02, 2025 at Roazhon Park in Rennes, France. Photo by Manuel Blondeau AOP

Birmingham have paid the same for Kyogo that Rennes paid Celtic, £10m, although some of that is performance related

We can even include Kyogo in this. A player whose reputation has taken a beating while struggling to impress enough to even make the team at Rennes. According to reports Birmingham have paid the same for him that Rennes paid us, £10m, although some of that is again performance related.

I think it’s unbelievable that Kyogo is still commanding a fee of £10m when it is blatantly clear that Rennes couldn’t wait to get shot of him. At Celtic he was a star player who had been fantastic during his career in Glasgow and had performed at the highest level including in the Champions League and had scored some huge goals in big games. We should definitely have been getting more than £10m for him, especially when you see Rennes getting the same after his time there was an absolute disaster.

Celtic definitely letting players leave on the cheap

All three of these examples show that we are definitely letting our players leave on the cheap. With potentially quite a few fringe players looking like departing this summer, in my next article I will be looking at what the rumoured transfer fees are in these cases and looking deeper into the reason why I think we are undervaluing a lot of our assets.

Conall McGinty

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