Celtic hit gold on "magical" ace who's worth more than every Rangers player
da leao： Celtic are back in action in the Scottish Premiership this afternoon as they prepare to take on city rivals Glasgow Rangers in the Old Firm clash.
da fazobetai： The Hoops will move 19 points clear with eight games left to play if they secure all three points today, which would all-but-seal their fourth successive league title success.
Brendan Rodgers’ side will be hoping to pick up where they left off after they beat Hibernian 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the SFA Cup last weekend.
Rangers, meanwhile, beat Fenerbahce on penalties in the Europa League, after losing 2-0 in normal time, and could come into this match with some confidence off the back of that success.
Even with that in mind, however, Celtic should be confident of being able to get the job done in front of their home support, given how far off the Gers have been this season, as evidenced by the 16-point gap between the two teams in the Premiership.
Rangers have not won the top-flight title since the 2020/21 campaign under Steven Gerrard and their current squad does not boast many high-valued talents that will be feared by the Hoops defenders today.
The most valuable Rangers players
Barry Ferguson’s team do not have a single player in their first-team squad who is worth at least £10m, as per Transfermarkt, as their most expensive player is Wolfsburg loanee Vaclav Cerny at £7.6m.
He is not a permanent Rangers player, however, and the most valuable star solely contracted to the Light Blues is central midfielder Mohamed Diomande, who is valued at just £5.9m.
The board and ownership at Ibrox have been unable to sign and develop young talents to create a valuable squad that can compete with Celtic on all fronts, hence why the Hoops are on course to seal the domestic treble this season.
Most valuable Rangers players
Player
Market value
Vaclav Cerny
£7.6m
Mohamed Diomande
£5.9m
Nicolas Raskin
£5.5m
John Souttar
£3.8m
Cyriel Dessers
£3.4m
Hamza Igamane
£3.4m
Nedim Bajrami
£3.4m
Dujon Sterling
£3.4m
Jefte
£3.4m
Danilo
£3.4m
Valuations via Transfermarkt
As you can see in the table above, Rangers only have two permanent players worth more than £3.8m in their entire squad, which illustrates how much they have struggled in the recruitment department in recent seasons.
These valuations look particularly unimpressive when you compare them to how much Celtic’s stars are currently worth, as the Hoops have created a far more valuable squad of players.
Celtic's most valuable players
Rodgers has a team full of incredibly highly-valued stars who have already won the League Cup, are on course to win the Premiership, and are in the semi-finals of the SFA Cup.
Market Movers
Whilst Rangers do not have a single player who is worth more than £7.6m, the Bhoys have three players in their squad who are worth more than £10m and six stars who are worth more than £7.6m.
This illustrates the gulf in class between the two teams, which is – as aforementioned – further evidenced by their respective performances on the pitch this season – as the Hoops have far more valuable assets at their disposal.
Celtic’s most valuable players (excluding loanees)
24/25
Market value
Cameron Carter-Vickers
£11.6m
Arne Engels
£10.1m
Nicolas Kuhn
£10.1m
Daizen Maeda
£9.3m
Reo Hatate
£9.2m
Alistair Johnston
£8.4m
Jota
£7.6m
Auston Trusty
£6.3m
Greg Taylor
£5.5m
Callum McGregor
£5.5m
Stats via Transfermarkt
As you can see in the table above, the board at Celtic have managed to assemble a team that is packed full of incredibly highly-valued stars, who could be sold on for big fees in the future.
They have managed to do that by dipping into the market to recruit talented young players at good prices, hoping to develop and sell them on for more.
Jota is one great example of that. The club signed him for £6.5m from Benfica on a permanent deal before selling him to Al-Ittihad for £25m one year later, only to sign him again – from Rennes – for £8m in January.
Celtic have also hit the jackpot on another electric winger, Nicolas Kuhn, whose value has skyrocketed during his time at Parkhead to date.
Celtic hit the jackpot with Nicolas Kuhn
The Scottish giants signed the German forward from Rapid Vienna at the start of last year for a reported fee of £3m, and he had a solid, but unspectacular, start to life in Glasgow.
Kuhn racked up three goals and three assists in 18 appearances in all competitions for the Hoops in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign, as the left-footed maestro got settled in to life in Scotland.
The 25-year-old star, who was described as “magical” by Rodgers in pre-season, had that initial period to adapt to Scottish football and he hit the ground running in his first full season at the club.
To date, Kuhn has scored 18 goals and provided 13 assists in 41 appearances in all competitions for Celtic, which shows that the forward has offered a consistent threat as both a scorer and a creator of goals on the right flank.
The former Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig academy talent has seen his value soar as a result of his exceptional performances on the pitch this season.
Nicolas Kuhn’s soaring value
Date
Market valuation
December 2023
£1.3m
January 2024
£3m reported fee
March 2024
£2.1m
October 2024
£2.5m
December 2024
£8.4m
March 2025
£10.1m
Valuations via Transfermarkt
As you can see in the table above, Celtic may have ‘overpaid’ on paper at the time of his move to Parkhead, but they were buying him for the potential that they could unlock.
His soaring value over the subsequent 14 months or so proves that they hit the jackpot by paying £3m for his services, as he is now worth more than three times as much at the time of writing (16/03/2025).
The German sensation is now worth more than every single player in the Rangers squad, despite being signed for less than any of their top ten most valuable players at the start of last year.
Related Celtic's star loanee is now worth even more than Engels & Jota after exit
The former Celtic loanee has seen his value soar beyond Arne Engels and Jota’s.
Therefore, Rodgers and the board hit the jackpot when they swooped to sign the mercurial playmaker from the Austrian top-flight last year, because he has been exceptional on the pitch and developed into a highly-valuable asset ahead of the summer.