Celtic have made a habit out of selling players for significant profit over the years through their model of buying young talent and developing them to sell on further down the line.
The likes of Virgil van Dijk, who is now captain of Liverpool and the Netherlands, Victor Wanyama, Odsonne Edouard, and Moussa Dembele, among many others, have come through Parkhead before being sold on to clubs in Europe.
Per The Scottish Sun, the two highest fees Celtic have received for players in their history both came within the last five years with Jota and Kieran Tierney's respective departures.
Arsenal reportedly splashed out a staggering £25m to sign the Scotland international left-back, who had come up through the academy in Glasgow, in the summer of 2019, before Al Ittihad spent the same amount on the Portuguese winger to secure his services last summer.
However, that does not mean that they are the club's biggest sales when you adjust for the inflation of transfer fees in football over the years.
When Celtic sold Stiliyan Petrov to Aston Villa in the summer of 2006, the Hoops played a blinder as they cashed in for a gigantic fee when you adjust for inflation, as the fee then exceeds what the Scottish giants raked in for Jota last year.
Celtic's Jota masterclass
Former Bhoys head coach Ange Postecoglou swooped to sign Jota from Portuguese giants Benfica on loan for the 2021/22 campaign and the forward enjoyed a terrific first year at the club.
The exciting winger racked up ten goals, ten assists, and 17 'big chances' created in 29 Scottish Premiership appearances for the Australian boss that term.
Celtic, unsurprisingly, decided to activate the option-to-buy clause that they had in his loan deal, which allowed them to snap him up for a fee of just £6.5m.
Appearances
33
Starts
26
Goals
11
Assists
11
Big chances created
13
As you can see in the table above, Jota enjoyed another terrific season in front of goal last term as he produced 22 direct goal contributions in just 26 starts in the Scottish top-flight.
He also scored two goals and created nine chances for his teammates in four Champions League appearances for the Hoops during the 2022/23 campaign.
His sublime form for Celtic across those two seasons in Glasgow convinced Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad to swoop in with a £25m offer to take him away from Scotland.
Benfica were due £7.5m of that, due to the sell-on clause they inserted when the Hoops signed him in 2022, and that meant that the club made a profit of £11m in total on the £6.5m they had paid the Liga Portugal outfit.
This shows that Postecoglou played a masterclass with the signing of Jota as it meant that the Glasgow-based side made an £11m profit in just one year, whilst they also got two years of fantastic services out of the talented forward – including his season on loan.
How much Celtic signed Stiliyan Petrov for
The Hoops swooped to sign central midfielder Petrov from CSKA Sofia for a reported fee of £2.8m under John Barnes in the summer of 1999.
Sky Sports claimed that the Bulgarian dynamo struggled under the former Liverpool winger before going on to prove himself with Martin O'Neill in charge of the club.
The midfield star, who could also play on either flank when needed, only produced one goal and zero assists in 26 Premiership matches during his first campaign in Scotland, playing for Barnes and then Kenny Dalglish – who was in caretaker charge in the final three months of the season.
Petrov found his feet in front of goal under O'Neill with a return of seven goals in 28 league matches for the Scottish giants during the 2000/01 campaign, but he had failed to assist a single goal in his first two years in Glasgow.
99/00
26
1
0
00/01
28
7
0
01/02
24
6
6
02/03
34
12
10
03/04
35
6
9
04/05
37
11
3
05/06
37
10
5
Stats via Transfermarkt
As you can see in the table above, the Bulgaria international went on to thrive at the top end of the pitch in Scotland after his initial struggles in those first two seasons.
In fact, Petrov went on to rack up more than 100 goal contributions – with 64 goals and 40 assists – in 304 appearances for the club in all competitions before his move to Aston Villa in 2006.
How much Celtic sold Stiliyan Petrov for in 2024 money
Per Totally Money, the Hoops cashed in on the central midfielder ahead of the 2006/07 campaign for a fee of £9m as the Premier League side swooped in to secure his signature.
Totally Money have taken the 100 most expensive transfers of all time across each season since 1992 in Europe's top five leagues. Armed with plenty of historical financial data they have calculated what footballers of yesteryear would be worth in the present day after taking into account the remarkable rate of inflation.
If you adjust for the inflation of football fees over the years, per Totally Money's index, that £9m fee would be worth a staggering £31.1m in 2024 money.
That is over £6m more than Celtic raked in for Tierney and Jota and would be their club-record fee had that transfer taken place in today's footballing economic climate.
This shows that the Scottish side struck gold when they signed him for £2.8m in the summer of 2019 as they made an actual profit of £6.2m and got years of superb service from the impressive midfielder, who could score and create goals, and raked in a fee that would be considered mind-boggling in the current day.
Petrov then went on to play over 200 matches for Aston Villa, including more than 100 in the Premier League, and racked up 105 caps for Bulgaria.
This shows that he enjoyed a good career in England after making the move from Parkhead, as the talented maestro played regular top-flight football in England over several years after his impressive time in Scotland.
Unfortunately, his retirement – at Villa Park – was then forced by his brave battle with leukaemia in 2013. Thankfully, though, he is now healthy and free of the disease, which cut his excellent career short, and that is the most important thing to note.
