Left for £9m, now worth £41m: Celtic have already sold big Johnston upgrade

Celtic went into the international break with a bitter taste in their mouth off the back of a 3-2 defeat to their city rivals at Parkhead in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.

The Hoops were beaten 3-2 by Rangers in front of their home fans, despite coming from 2-0 down to draw the game level at 2-2 with a home crowd spurring them on for a winner.

There were several players who underperformed on the day. Right-back Alistair Johnston, who lost possession 26 times and missed a ‘big chance’ to make it 3-3 at the death, was one of those.

However, the Canada international can be excused for one or two bad days at the office because he has been a terrific performer on the whole this season.

Alistair Johnston’s form for Celtic

The 26-year-old right-back has started 25 of his 26 appearances in the Scottish Premiership so far this term, which shows that Brendan Rodgers has relied upon him as the first-choice in that position.

In those 26 matches, Johnston has bombed up and down the right flank to provide four goals and seven assists, with 13 ‘big chances’ created in total, for his side.

The Celtic number two has also made 2.1 tackles and interceptions per game and won 56% of his duels in the division, which shows that the full-back can hold his own in physical battles out of possession to go along with his excellent attacking play.

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Despite his impressive displays for the Hoops, there is a former Celtic right-back who is now even better than Johnston and worth millions more – Jeremie Frimpong.

Jeremie Frimpong’s soaring market value

The Dutch defender, who produced three goals and seven assists in 51 matches for the Hoops, was sold to Bayer Leverkusen for a reported fee of €11m (£9m) at the start of 2021.

Since then, Frimpong has racked up 29 goals and 40 assists in 182 games for the German giants, who won the Bundesliga last season, and that includes a haul of 14 goals and ten assists in the 2023/24 campaign.

Meanwhile, Johnston only has six goals and 18 assists in 103 games for Celtic from right-back, which suggests that the Leverkusen star – who is playing in one of Europe’s major leagues – would be an upgrade on the current Hoops star.

This is because the former Manchester City man could offer far more at the top end of the pitch as both a scorer and a creator down the right flank, given his impressive output in Germany – particularly last term.

As you can see in the table above, Frimpong’s value has soared as a result of his excellent performances for Leverkusen, as it has shot all the way up to roughly £41m – from the £9m that Celtic sold him for.

Johnston, on the other hand, is currently valued at roughly £8m and this means that the Dutchman, who was described as a “cheat code” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, is worth a staggering £33m more than Johnston, who is worth £1m less than what the Scottish giants sold Frimpong for.

Therefore, Celtic may regret that they only managed to rake in £9m for the Netherlands international back in 2021, given what he has gone on to achieve in Germany.

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