Asset Management Day

You and I are old enough to remember the grief when a star player left to go to England.  Today, with Odsonne Edouard’s anticipated departure, grief is replaced by relief.  This is nothing to do with the player’s ability, he will be missed on the field, but success on the grass is determined by the astuteness in the Asset Management game.  If Celtic are to enhance their chances with the former, they need to optimise the latter.  Eddie has to leave with financial compensation coming the other way.

Whatever Crystal Palace pay, a significant portion will to go Paris Saint-Germain (widely reported as 40%).  We paid €10m when the player signed permanently in 2018, so although the money will have an impact on current and future trading, we will scarcely break even on the player, a sign that his value (€10m plus sell-on clause) did not appreciate during his time in Glasgow.

Ryan Christie, like Stuart Armstrong three years ago, is one I hoped we would be able to hold onto.  Ryan spent three years going nowhere (if you discount loans to Inverness and Aberdeen) before he transformed Celtic when coming on as a halftime substitute against Hearts at Murrayfield in October 2018.  Celtic started that season poorly with Brendan Rodgers unable to conjure a fix until a series of injuries gave Ryan his chance.  He played a significant role in rescuing Celtic’s season, and Brendan’s reputation, as they secured the Treble Treble and remained a key player in the subsequent treble and European campaigns.

Money talks and Celtic players listen when wages above £50k per week are mentioned (Edouard will earn significantly above this).  With only six months left on his current deal, I doubt we will earn much for Ryan, but the principle remains the same; churn them before they leave for free.

Filipe Jota and Georgios Giakoumakis are waiting in the tunnel, so the ‘F5 hours’ should be busy.