46 players updated
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The Scottish Premiership season is edging closer to the business end of the league campaign and as such Transfermarkt has conducted its latest interim update of the Scottish top-flight. Across the 12 clubs no less than 46 players have seen their market values either rise or fall and as a result some of the division’s biggest stars have seen their place in the rankings shift rather dramatically. Although Celtic and Rangers remain the most valuable clubs in the league, both have seen their squad market values drop.
Big rises at Hearts and Aberdeen
The most notable changes in the Scottish Premiership since the last market value update for the Scottish top-flight have more or less come outside of the Glasgow giants and their dominance of the league. For example, Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland saw one of the biggest increases in market value, with a €700k increase to €2.5 million. Similarly, Aberdeen star fellow Premiership striker Bojan Miovski saw his market value increase by €500k to €2.5m too. “Both Shankland and Miovski continue to be excellent assets for their respective clubs and are likely to attract big offers in the summer transfer window,” notes UK Lead Content Manager Stefan Bienkowski. “Both players are first and third respectively for goals in the league this season, which is no mean feat for a player outside of the Old Firm clubs.”
Indeed, this ground swell of market value upgrades for players outside of Celtic and Rangers can be seen in the fact that of the 29 players that saw their values rise in this update, just seven play for either of the Glasgow giants. This is largely due to increased game time and performances from a number of clubs under the age of 23 across the division, such as Hearts midfielder Calem Nieuwenhof (+€300k to €750k), Lewis Miller at Hibernian (+€250k to €750k), Liverpool’s on-loan full-back Owen Beck (+€400k to €1m) or Motherwell star Lennon Miller (+€200k to €1m). “The Scottish Premiership has always been a good arena for young players to develop and attract interest from richer clubs south of the border. Lennon Miller is perhaps the best example of this, as the young midfielder goes from strength-to-strength in Stuart Kettlewell’s side. Although just 17 years of age, many fans of the Steelmen believe Miller could be as talented as former midfield star David Turnbull. As such, his market value has shot up in the last 12 months as he continues to attract more and more interest from the Glasgow giants and clubs in England.”
Mixed results for Celtic and Rangers
Very few Celtic or Rangers fans would say this season has been a classic campaign for their respective sides and that has not only been represented by the one point that separates both at the top of the table but also the mixture or rises and falls in market value in each squad. “There’s little doubt that Rangers have improved the most since the last market value update, as Philippe Clement’s side have caught up with Brendan Rodgers’ stuttering champions,” noted Bienkowski. “But the truth is that both teams are in a period of transition as they try to move on from previous managers and rebuild their squads for next season.”
Celtic and Rangers dominate: The most valuable players in the Scottish Premiership
This is evident from the changes at Celtic. Alistair Johnston got a €500k increase to €8m for his consistent form at right-back, while new signing Nicolas Kühn saw his market value increase €1m to €2.5m to reflect the fee the Glasgow club paid for him. However, that was cancelled out by drops in value for Odin Thiago Holm (-€500k to €2.5m), Kyogo Furuhashi (-€1m to €14m) and Reo Hatate (-€1m to €10m) due to a lack of playing time, poor form or simply being out injured since the last update. This follows the club selling no less than three players and sending another five out on loan during the January transfer window, as Rodgers continues to make big changes to the squad he inherited in the summer.
It’s a similar story at Rangers, where Clement seems to have finally found his best starting XI and has seen the Ibrox side improve with their league performances. Squad players that have improved under the new manager such as John Souttar (+€1m to €2.5m), Todd Cantwell (+€500k to €8.5m), Ridvan Yilmaz (+€500k to €5m), Mohamed Diomandé (+€500k to €3.5m) and Dujon Sterling (+€500k to €3m) have all seen their market values increase. However, older or out-of-favour players like Kemar Roofe (-€300k to €2m), Nicolas Raskin (-€500k to €7.5m), Ben Davies (-€500k to €3m), Kieran Dowell (-€500k to €1.5m), Danilo (-€1m to €6m), Borna Barisic (-€1m to €4.5m) and Ryan Jack (-€1m to €1.5m) have all seen their market values drop in this update.
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