£25m very much appears to be the benchmark for any high-profile Celtic sale.
Matt O’Riley, Jota and Kieran Tierney have all been sold for that amount in recent years, with Nicolas Kühn’s move to Como this summer, for a reported fee of around £16.5m, not quite reaching that mark.
Given Celtic’s very successful player trading model, their entire business plan revolving around signing less-known players on the cheap, providing them with a platform on which to shine and then selling them for an enormous profit, many more players are set to follow suit in exiting for a big amount.
Well, could a breakout start of this season prove to be the next player to do just that, and it might not be who you think it is?
Sebastian Tounekti's start to life at Celtic
Sebastian Tounekti signed for Celtic from Hammarby for a reported fee of £5.2m, which is already looking like a bargain.
He has become the second Tunisian international to call Parkhead home, after Lassad Nouioui, who made 19 appearances for the club in 2012/13, with Tounekti, arguably, already making more of an impact, scoring his first goal for the club against Partick Thistle in the League Cup last Sunday.
In fact, Tounekti has started all three matches since making the move from Stockholm, including Wednesday night’s commendable 1-1 draw with Crvena zvezda in the Europa League, replaced in the 77th minute by fellow new recruit Michel-Ange Balikwisha.
The 23-year-old is hoping to be very busy over the next 12 months, set to represent Tunisia at both the Africa Cup of Nations in December and then the World Cup next summer, the Eagles of Carthage having qualified earlier this month, with Tounekti coming off the bench during their most recent international against Equatorial Guinea in Malabo.
However, it is another of the new faces in Celtic’s side whose value could exponentially increase the most, catching the eye of onlookers.
Celtic's new star at full-back
Right-back has been something of a problem position for Brendan Rodgers in recent weeks, ever since Alistair Johnston suffered a hamstring tear during the first leg of the Champions League play-off against Kairat last month.
Then, reliable deputy Anthony Ralston sustained a foot injury which saw him withdraw from international duty, as well as miss all three club matches so far this month.
Thus, 19-year-old Colby Donovan has started against Kilmarnock, Partick Thistle and now Red Star Belgrade, having made his senior debut as recently as August against Livingston, but he has been earning widespread praise.
The teenager made 36 appearances for Celtic B in the Lowland League and SPFL Trust Trophy, as well as starting all seven UEFA Youth League games last season, and has seemingly transitioned into senior football seamlessly.
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton labelled him “mature beyond his years”, while manager Rodgers hailed his “outstanding” performance in Belgrade, adding “he played with personality, composure and has a toughness to him where he’s not going to get beat easily.”
His statistics below emphasise his impressive showing at Stadion Rajko Mitić.
Tackles
3
2nd
Duels contested
11
1st
Duels won
6
2nd
Aerial duels contested
5
2nd
Accurate passes
34
10th
Touches
69
6th
After the match, speaking to TNT Sports, Donovan said that he was “over the moon” and it was a “dream come true”, praising the impact of the “brilliant” Rodgers on his confidence and development.
Thus, even if Ralston is back fit, he was an unused substitute at the Marakana, the teenager could keep his place for the visit of Hibernian on Saturday, before Braga visit Glasgow in the next Europa League fixture on Thursday.
As already alluded to, Celtic’s most-expensive academy sale of all-time remains the £25m Arsenal paid to sign Tierney back in 2019.
By the time he departed for London, Tierney had made almost 150 appearances in hoops, winning 12 Scotland caps, so Donovan certainly has a long way to go, but he certainly has the quality to follow in those footsteps as Parkhead’s next homegrown full-back sensation.