Celtic enjoyed a busy end to the summer transfer window last week with three new additions to their first-team squad on deadline day on Friday.
The Hoops dipped into the market to snap up Arne Engels, Luke McCowan, and Auston Trusty from Augsburg, Dundee, and Sheffield United respectively on permanent deals, in an attempt to bolster Brendan Rodgers' options across the park.
Adam Idah, Paulo Bernardo, Alex Valle, Kasper Schmeichel, and Viljami Sinisalo had already been added to the group prior to deadline day, with all bar Valle coming in as permanent signings.
The Scottish giants showed their ambition in the summer transfer window by smashing their club-record on Engels, who they have reportedly paid £11m for, eclipsing the £9m spent on Odsonne Edouard from PSG in 2018.
Celtic and Rodgers will now hope that their investment pays off in the coming months and years, with the Belgian whiz performing on the pitch and raising his own value to potentially be sold on for a big profit in the future.
The Scottish Premiership champions invested that money after they lost central midfielder Matt O'Riley to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion, in a deal that cemented a masterclass by the club.
Celtic's Matt O'Riley masterclass
At the start of 2022, former Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou swooped to sign the Danish talent from English League One side MK Dons for a reported fee of £1.5m.
The young midfielder, who had started his career with Fulham, had racked up ten goals and eight assists in 54 appearances for the third tier outfit.
O'Riley hit the ground running in Scotland, with a return of four goals and two assists in his first 16 Scottish Premiership outings, and managed three goals and 12 assists in his first full league season in the 2022/23 campaign.
The superb maestro then enjoyed his best year in a Celtic jersey in what turned out to be his final season with the club under Brendan Rodgers last term.
Sofascore rating
7.91
1st
Goals
18
1st
Assists
13
1st
Big chances created
14
1st
Key passes per game
2.5
1st
As you can see in the table above, O'Riley was the biggest attacking threat in the entire squad in the 2023/24 campaign, when it came to both scoring and creating goals.
The central midfielder ranked first in virtually every key direct attacking statistics in the Premiership, with 31 goal contributions in the top-flight to help the team to another league title.
His sublime form in Scotland attracted interest from down south and Brighton eventually secured a £25m deal to sign the Denmark international last month.
That transfer cemented a masterclass by Celtic as they turned a £1.5m signing from the third tier of English football into a £25m player for a Premier League club, which is the perfect example of their player development model working to full effect.
It was a Scottish, and Celtic, transfer record fee of £25m but that does not mean that it was the most valuable sale in the history of the club, as transfer fees have inflated over the years.
One player who was sold for more than O'Riley, if you account for that inflation, was prolific centre-forward Pierre van Hooijdonk, who the Bhoys also played a blinder with.
How much Celtic paid for Pierre van Hooijdonk
The Scottish giants swooped to sign the number nine from Dutch side NAC Breda for a reported fee of £1.2m in January 1995 by manager Tommy Burns.
Van Hooijdonk was snapped up by Celtic after his impressive run of form in his home country, with a return of 44 goals in 71 appearances in all competitions for NAC.
The Netherlands international had plundered an eye-catching ten goals in 16 outings in the Dutch top-flight during the first half of the 1994/95 campaign, which convinced the Hoops to sign him for £1.2m.
That came after van Hooijdonk had fired in 29 goals in 35 appearances in all competitions for NAC during the 1993/94 season, including 25 goals in 31 league matches.
The sensational forward then enjoyed a terrific spell with Celtic in Scotland, scoring 52 goals in 84 matches in all competitions, and earned a mega money move away from Parkhead.
How much Celtic sold van Hooijdonk for in today's money
Per Totally Money, Premier League side Nottingham Forest swooped in to sign the Netherlands international from Celtic for a fee of £5.4m in 1997.
Transfer fees in football have significantly inflated over the subsequent years and, as per Totally Money's algorithm, that £5.4m would be worth a staggering £39.4m in today's money.
That is more than £14m more than Brighton have spent on Matt O'Riley this summer and suggests that van Hooijdonk's move to Forest was more valuable, relative to the time the transfer was completed, than the Danish star's switch to England was for Celtic this year.
This shows that Celtic and Burns hit gold when they dipped into the Dutch market to sign the prolific striker from NAC Breda, as they made a significant profit on the attacker, who would have been a Scottish record sale in 2024, and enjoyed his talents on the pitch.
94/95
13
4
95/96
34
26
96/97
21
14
As you can see in the table above, van Hooijdonk had a relatively slow start to his career at Celtic before firing in 40 goals in a season-and-a-half in the Premiership in the 1995/96 and 1996/97 campaigns.
The Dutchman then only scored seven goals in 29 Premier League matches for Forest, with a 29-goal season in the second tier sandwiched between two top-flight terms, before moving back to Holland with Vitesse.
Van Hooijdonk bounced around a few clubs, signing for Benfica, Feyenoord (twice), NAC Breda, and Fenerbahce after his spell with Vitesse, and ended his career with an impressive haul of 241 goals.
Forget Edouard: Celtic must unleash teen starlet with 1.25 goals per game
The Hoops youngster has been in incredible form for the club’s B team this season.
1 ByDan EmerySep 4, 2024
Overall, Celtic hit the jackpot with the fantastic striker as they benefitted from his services both on and off the pitch, for footballing and financial reasons.