In normal circumstances fans of a club looking for a boost would look optimistically to the January Transfer Window for a lift.
Although the mid-season window is regarded as riskier than the summer window the right signing can galvanise a club. In England in recent seasons the impact of the right arrival has been seen with Virgil van Dijk and Bruno Fernandes.
Since arriving at Anfield van Dijk has played in one Champions League Final, won another then helped his club end a 30 year wait to be crowned Champions of England. Fernandes has had less than a year at Old Trafford, interrupted by Lockdown but has brought fresh life to the team-mates that had looked stale before his introduction.
That is the theory but not one that Celtic fans can take much comfort from. On the Kerrydale Street Forum Vote Quimby has compiled a list of the players signed during the run of nine consecutive title wins alongwith the number of appearances and minutes on the park. Some of it is sobering stuff.
The list covers the full range from loan signings to record fees, project and free transfers but for every Mikael Lustig or Tom Rogic there are half a dozen Teemu Pukki’s, Mo Bangura’s, Marvin Compper’s or an Amido Balde. A large number have been offloaded on the quiet with a pay-off or nominal fee with time left on their contract. The four players listed above cost around £9m in fees with nothing coming back in return.
Throughout the terms of four different managers- Neil Lennon twice, Ronny Deila and Brendan Rodgers recruitment has been a recurring problem.
At the 2020 virtual AGM Peter Lawwell boasted about spending £35m on players since July 2019. Of the 17 players signed only five started at Ibrox on Saturday with David Turnbull and Ismaila Soro having started less than 10 matches each as a Celtic player.
Tranfer fees are never fully disclosed but the fees listed below seem accurate from the time of each transfer.
Summer 11/12
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Mohamed Bangura | £1,980,000.00 | Permanent | 16 | 451 |
| Victor Wanyama | £990,000.00 | Permanent | 91 | 7139 |
| Adam Matthews | £203,000.00 | Permanent | 150 | 10971 |
| Fraser Forster | £104,000.00 | Loan | 47 | 4222 |
| Kelvin Wilson | £0.00 | Permanent | 76 | 6556 |
| Badr El Kaddouri | Loan | 7 | 514 |
Winter 11/12
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Pawel Brozek | £293,000.00 | Loan | 3 | 89 |
| Ibrahim Rabiu | £0.00 | Permanent | 2 | 106 |
| Mikael Lustig | £0.00 | Permanent | 276 | 21888 |
Summer 12/13
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Fraser Forster | £2,250,000.00 | Permanent | 236 | 21210 |
| Lassad Nouioui | £0.00 | Permanent | 19 | 847 |
| Lubos Kamenar | Loan | 0 | 0 | |
| Miku Fedor | Loan | 14 | 754 | |
| Efe Ambrose | Permanent | 169 | 13209 |
Winter 12/13
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Tom Rogic | £675,000.00 | Permanent | 204 | 11444 |
| Rami Gershon | Loan | 3 | 221 | |
| Viktor Noring | Loan | 0 | 0 |
Summer 13/14
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Virgil Van Dijk | £2,480,000.00 | Permanent | 115 | 9989 |
| Teemu Pukki | £2,250,000.00 | Permanent | 38 | 1676 |
| Amido Balde | £1,580,000.00 | Permanent | 24 | 432 |
| Nir Bitton | £738,000.00 | Permanent | 225 | 15367 |
Winter 13/14
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Stefan Johansen | £2,170,000.00 | Permanent | 114 | 9461 |
| Leigh Griffiths | £1,130,000.00 | Permanent | 242 | 13841 |
| Holmbert Fridjonsson | £162,000.00 | Permanent | 0 | 0 |
Summer 14/15
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Craig Gordon | £0.00 | Permanent | 242 | 21714 |
| Stefan Scepovic | £2,280,000.00 | Permanent | 26 | 1006 |
| John Guidetti | Loan | 35 | 1983 | |
| Alexander Tonev | Loan | 13 | 490 | |
| Mubarak Wakaso | Loan | 11 | 734 | |
| Jo Inge Berget | Loan | 8 | 372 | |
| Jason Denayer | Loan | 44 | 3810 |
Winter 14/15
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Michael Duffy | £122,000.00 | Permanent | 0 | 0 |
| Stuart Armstrong | £2,000,000.00 | Permanent | 144 | 9723 |
| Gary McKay Steven | £200,000.00 | Permanent | 63 | 3845 |
Summer 15/16
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Jozo Simunovic | £6,750,000.00 | Permanent | 126 | 10192 |
| Nadir Ciftci | £1,880,000.00 | Permanent | 26 | 1980 |
| Dedryk Boyata | £1,800,000.00 | Permanent | 135 | 11620 |
| Scott Allan | £347,000.00 | Permanent | 17 | 516 |
| Logan Bailly | £312,000.00 | Permanent | 5 | 450 |
| Saidy Janko | £252,000.00 | Permanent | 19 | 1224 |
| Tyler Blackett | Loan | 8 | 456 | |
| Ryan Christie | Permanent | 119 | 7995 |
Winter 15/16
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Erik Sviatchenko | £2,250,000.00 | Permanent | 63 | 4894 |
| Colin Kazim Rochards | £0.00 | Permanent | 13 | 621 |
| Patrick Roberts | Loan | 60 | 3677 | |
| Carlton Cole | £0.00 | Permanent | 5 | 146 |
Summer 16/17
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Scott Sinclair | £3,150,000.00 | Permanent | 167 | 11483 |
| Cristian Gamboa | £1,080,000.00 | Permanent | 31 | 2122 |
| Kristoffer Ajer | £540,000.00 | Permanent | 153 | 12699 |
| Kolo Toure | £0.00 | Permanent | 17 | 1072 |
| Moussa Dembele | £0.00 | Permanent | 94 | 6154 |
| Dorus de Vries | Permanent | 15 | 1259 |
Winter 16/17
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Eboue Kouassi | £3,150,000.00 | Permanent | 22 | 966 |
Summer 17/18
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Olivier Ntcham | £4,500,000.00 | Permanent | 146 | 9362 |
| Jonny Hayes | £1,320,000.00 | Permanent | 68 | 3017 |
| Odsonne Edouard | Loan | 146 | 9746 | |
| Kundai Benyu | £0.00 | Permanent | 4 | 173 |
| Patrick Roberts | Loan | 18 | 907 |
Winter 17/18
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Charly Musonda | £2,250,000.00 | Loan | 8 | 335 |
| Jack Hendry | £1,440,000.00 | Permanent | 27 | 1809 |
| Marvin Compper | £1,030,000.00 | Permanent | 1 | 83 |
| Lewis Morgan | £306,000.00 | Permanent | 31 | 1203 |
| Scott Bain | Loan | 54 | 4860 |
Summer 18/19
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Odsonne Edouard | £9,270,000.00 | Permanent | 146 | 9746 |
| Youssouf Mulumbu | £0.00 | Permanent | 3 | 155 |
| Scott Bain | £0.00 | Permanent | 54 | 4860 |
| Emilio Izzaguire | £0.00 | Permanent | 19 | 1416 |
| Filip Benkovic | Loan | 27 | 2076 | |
| Daniel Arzani | Loan | 2 | 28 |
Winter 18/19
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Vakoun Issouf Bayo | £2,010,000.00 | Permanent | 17 | 365 |
| Maryan Shved | £1,800,000.00 | Permanent | 3 | 420 |
| Oliver Burke | Loan | 19 | 1169 | |
| Timothy Weah | Loan | 17 | 522 | |
| Jeremy Toijan | Loan | 14 | 941 | |
| Manny Perez | Permanent | 0 | 0 | |
| Andrew Gutman | Permanent | 0 | 0 |
Summer 19/20
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Christopher Jullien | £7,200,000.00 | Permanent | 58 | 5080 |
| Boli Bolingoli | £3,010,000.00 | Permanent | 29 | 2349 |
| Hatem Abd Elhamed | £1,620,000.00 | Permanent | 29 | 1953 |
| Luca Connell | £369,000.00 | Permanent | 0 | 0 |
| Jeremine Frimpong | £342,000.00 | Permanent | 43 | 3276 |
| Jonathan Afolabi | £0.00 | Permanent | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Taylor | £2,000,000.00 | Permanent | 32 | 2432 |
| Mohamed Elyounnoussi | Loan | 44 | 2862 | |
| Moritz Bauer | Loan | 13 | 870 | |
| Fraser Forster | Loan | 39 | 3510 |
Winter 19/20
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Patryk Kliamla | £3,600,000.00 | Permanent | 22 | 546 |
| Ismaila Soro | £2,070,000.00 | Permanent | 11 | 564 |
Summer 20/21
| Player | Price Tag | Permanent/Loan | Number of appearances | Minutes Played |
| Albian Ajeti | £4,950,000.00 | Permanent | 21 | 810 |
| Vasilias Barkas | £4,500,000.00 | Permanent | 19 | 1710 |
| Shane Duffy | £1,980,000.00 | Loan | 18 | 1326 |
| David Turnbull | £2,750,000.00 | Permanent | 14 | 680 |
| Diego Laxalt | Loan | 16 | 1285 |
Fees and statistics from Transfermarkt
