As if the need for a complete squad rebuild and a new manager wasn't enough, two trends could seriously dent Celtic’s previously successful player-trading model. The current lack of quality in the squad raises a big concern over high-value sales being feasible. Then there’s the likes of Nicolas Kuhn, the most recent big-money club sale, struggling at FC Como, who look likely to cut their losses and ship him out. Both raise the question of who would buy players from Celtic?
Previously, clubs in the EPL and Europe have paid hefty fees to secure top talent from Celtic. That's happened for many years, and more recently we’ve seen sale fees of £10m+ for Kyogo Furuhashi, Matt O’Riley, Nicolas Kuhn, Jota, Josip Juranovic, Jeremie Frimpong, Kristoffer Ajer, Odsonne Edouard, and Liel Abada.
That's a hefty flow of cash into the club accounts. It should have helped buy more quality replacements to replace those leaving. And ideally also to take the team forward. That hasn't happened anywhere near the extent it should. The players brought in over the recent transfer windows just aren't good enough, and the squad has deteriorated badly in most positions.
Celtic may find it hard to generate more big money sales
The club will surely struggle to move out many of the current players, especially if they look to recover even close to the fees paid for them. Who is going to cough up £5m for the lesser spotted Michel-Ange Balikwisha, to quote just one example? The poor recruitment is likely to lead to hefty losses, undermining any bigger sales that may be possible. The present healthy bank balance may be about to take a hit.
Even the likes of Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate won't now attract as high a fee this summer after poor seasons. Arne Engels was reported to be the subject of a huge bid from Nottingham Forest in January. Whether that will happen again is questionable. If it does, Engels and perhaps Alistair Johnston may be the only big-money prospects for a sale from this squad, and that may be for less than previously expected. Those departures will decimate the squad even further and deepen the rebuild needed.
The second reason is that perhaps the buying clubs might be becoming a bit more wary of paying a top price for Celtic players. Of those players listed earlier who have been sold, quite a few have flopped very significantly at their new clubs. Kuhn at Como is just the latest example. Kyogo’s appearances and goals took a nose-dive after he left. O’Riley dropped out of the Brighton squad, a spell at Marseille went well, but he’s now back on the sidelines with the Seagulls.
Some modest successes among the bigger Celtic sales flops
Elsewhere, Juranovic has dropped out of the Croatia national squad after an injury-hit season limited his appearances for Union Berlin. We know the Jota story well, and hopefully, he can get back to delighting us in a Celtic shirt again next season. Then there is Edouard, after struggling at Crystal Palace since he left in 2021, he is only now hitting a good run of form with Lens in France.
There have also been sales below the £10m mark, such as Adam Idah to Swansea. But he's not exactly hit the goal trail there either.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. Ajer has been a steady player for Brentford. Frimpong did very well at Bayer Leverkusen and is now settling in at Liverpool. Abada has put in some solid, if not spectacular, displays at Charlotte FC in the MLS.
So with some modest successes from the big money sales, Celtic may still be hopeful. The more recent and high-profile examples, though, may be enough to dent the confidence of buyers. With European money dwindling as qualification hurdles increase, any such dent in the player trading model would be very significant.