Celtic’s cost per appearance laid bare as three summer signings barely feature

Celtic’s recruitment record is often defended with talk of long-term strategy and player trading.

But when you strip the excuses away and look purely at output versus cost, the reality can be uncomfortable. And for three signings brought in last summer, the figures tell a story that is difficult to defend.

The club have taken enormous credit for developing the likes of Celtic hero Matt O’Riley and Jota and selling them on for a large profit.

But for every transfer success story at Celtic, there are inevitable failures. And there have been plenty this season.

And there are three players who were signed last summer who will go down at Celtic as a significant waste of resources.

How much Simpson-Pusey, Inamura and Yamada have cost Celtic per appearance

When Celtic supporters talk about recruitment inefficiency, this is what it actually looks like in black and white.

Jahmai Simpson-Pusey was brought in from Man City on loan, Hayato Inamura was bought from Albirex Niigata and Shin Yamada was purchased from Kawasaki Frontale.

None of them lasted a full season, and all of them were barely used.

Based on reported weekly wages and the number of competitive appearances made, the following table breaks down the estimated cost per game for three short-term Celtic signings — and the numbers are hard to ignore.

What follows is a simple breakdown of time at the club, appearances made and the estimated wage cost attached to each player.

Wage figures sourced from Salary Sport – Celtic wage data. Estimated Celtic cost per appearance: wages paid versus competitive games played.

In one case, Celtic were effectively paying more than £78,000 per appearance — a level of inefficiency that would be unacceptable at any level of the club.

All three players were brought to the club to bolster the Celtic first-team squad but, unfortunately, none of them made an impact and have now moved on.

Michael Nicholson slammed for ‘wasting’ Celtic’s money

The fury of this was felt on ACSOM as Paul John Dykes slammed Hoops CEO Michael Nicholson for sanctioning these deals.

Paul John told A Celtic State of Mind, “By the time we are finished this particular bulletin, it will be six days, five and a half hours [left of the transfer window].

“Michael Nicholson, if you’re tuning in, I think one of your cohorts normally tunes in on your behalf and reports back if we’ve said any hurty words towards you.

“But the time is running out, and we are looking at the transfer window in the summer and you’re looking at who’s surviving that.

“Simpson-Pusey’s away, Inamura’s away, Shin Yamada’s away, three players. There’s an outlay, even though one of them was a loan player, there’s an outlay.

“That’s £2m with transfer fees and wages. That is a complete waste of the club’s money.”