Big changes in Scotland
Transfermarkt has now updated the market values of every player in the Scottish Premiership and it was more good news for Celtic and more bad news for their cross-city rivals Rangers. The major talking points from the new market values was that Japanese star striker Kyogo Furuhashi has now moved above Celtic team-mate Jota as the most valuable player in the top-flight, after his market value was increased to €14 million.
Indeed, following a campaign that saw Kyogo not only pick up 34 goals and five assists in 50 games across all competitions but also finish ahead of all others in the Premiership for goals and assists in the 2022/23 campaign, the 28-year-old talent received the biggest increase in market value across the entire division. “Kyogo was undoubtedly the star of Celtic’s treble-winning season and that’s been made abundantly clear from the avalanche of rumours linking him with a move to Tottenham Hotspur this summer,” said Transfermarkt UK Content Manager, Stefan Bienkowski. “In no uncertain terms, Kyogo was the best player in Scotland this season.”
Celtic overtake Rangers as most valuable squad in Scotland
While Celtic fans will happily marvel at Kyogo’s success in Scotland, the Glasgow side have undoubtedly benefited in full from an impressive, young squad that was built from the ground up by former manager Ange Postecoglou, who recently departed for Tottenham after winning five trophies in just two seasons. As such, a number of Celtic players have continued to see their market value tick upwards, including Liel Abada (+€500k to €7.5m), Alistair Johnston (+€1m to €7m), Matt O’Riley (+€2m to €9m), Cameron Carter-Vickers (+€2m to €13m), Jota (+€1m to €13m) and most notably Reo Hatate (+€4.5m to €11m) who was a contender for Scottish Premiership player of the year and considering to be the most complete midfielder in the division.
Celtic and Rangers dominate: The most valuable players in the Scottish Premiership
This, in turn, has seen Celtic’s overall squad market value increase by €12.25m to €128.8m, putting them above their cross-city rivals Rangers. “It remains to be seen how much of Postecoglou’s winning team returning manager Brendan Rodgers will change, but there’s no doubt that Celtic currently have a younger and more talented squad than Rangers,” said Bienkowski. “And that is clear for all to see in the Parkhead club winning all but one of the last 10 league titles.”
Indeed, Celtic’s success has also coincided with a major rebuild at Ibrox, where Michael Beale has taken over the reins of Rangers and begun ripping up the old foundations and trying to build a new squad capable of challenging their rivals. The need for an entirely new squad is evident in the aging and underperforming stars that thwarted Beale’s team’s attempts to keep up this season and as such there have been major downgrades across the Ibrox squad.
For example, Rangers’ two most valuable players going into the season, Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos, have seen their values drop by €2m and €1m to €9m and €6m, respectively. Similar decreases in value can be found in Kemar Roofe (-€1.2m to €2.8m), Tom Lawrence (-€1m to €4m), Ianis Hagi (-€1m to €4m) and Ridvan Yilmaz (-€500k to €4.5m). In total, Rangers’ squad market value dropped by €9.93m. And that was before a number of high-profile players like Kent, Morelos and Scott Arfield officially left the club at the end of their contracts.
The Scottish Premiership: Biggest winners from the market value update
“There’s little doubt that Rangers fans have grown tired of star players underperforming and the club relying on older talents, while Celtic run rings around the club on and off the pitch with better recruitment,” Bienkowski added. “Beale will not only be tasked with taking Rangers back to the top of the Scottish Premiership, but he and his backroom staff will have to ensure they do so with young, talented players that fans of the Ibrox club can get excited about. He has a huge rebuilding job on his hands.”
It certainly isn’t all bad news for Rangers, however. Forward Fashion Sakala saw a market value increase of €500k to €5.5m following a strong season for the club and while the faltering stars of yesteryear may have let Rangers down this season, Beale’s January signings Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin both hit the ground running in the Premiership and already looked like young players with bags of potential. As such, Cantwell saw his market value increase to €9m and Raskin’s increased to €7.5m.
Stars that have shined elsewhere – Nisbet, Duk, Shankland
While Celtic and Rangers may hold a duopoly on league titles in Scotland, they certainly can’t lay claim to all of the talented players in the Premiership. And as such, a number of other star performers in the top-flight are deserving of a shout out and notable increases in market value. For example, the biggest market value increase for a non-Old Firm player was for Kevin Nisbet (+€500k to €2.5m), who bagged 11 goals and assists in just 14 league games for Hibs before earning a €2.34m move to Millwall this summer.
Similarly, star strikers Duk and Lawrence Shankland for Aberdeen and Hearts respectively bagged an impressive 47 goals and assists between them in the Premiership this season and have seen their market values increase too. Duk’s has received a €800k increase to €1.8m, while Shankland’s market value has increased by €300k to €1.3m. Elsewhere, Kilmarnock winger Danny Armstrong (+€250k to €700k), Motherwell forward Kevin Van Veen (+€200k to €800K) and Ross County playmaker Yan Dhanda (+€150k to €750) also received big increases following impressive campaigns.
How Transfermarkt market values work
The Transfermarkt market values are calculated, taking into account various pricing models. A major factor is the Transfermarkt community, whose members discuss and evaluate player market values in detail. In general, the Transfermarkt market values are not to be equated with transfer fees.
The goal is not to predict a price but an expected value of a player in a free market. Both individual transfer modalities and situational conditions are relevant in determining market values. Examples of this are listed below. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm (you can find the detailed market value definition here).
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