Celtic have seemingly sorted out their goalkeeping dilemma this summer by swooping to sign two new shot-stoppers in the wake of Joe Hart's departure.
The former England international retired at the end of last season and Brendan Rodgers has moved to sign experienced Danish titan Kasper Schmeichel to replace him.
Viljami Sinisalo has also been brought in on a permanent deal from Aston Villa as a back-up and potential heir to the former Leicester City star.
The 22-year-old has immediately come in as one of the lowest valued players in the Bhoys squad, per Transfermarkt, with a value of €600k (£505k).
He is not the lowest valued player in the group, however, as that honour falls to James McCarthy, who the Scottish Premiership side have had a howler with.
How much Celtic paid for James McCarthy
The Hoops signed the Ireland international on a free transfer from Crystal Palace in the summer of 2021 and he put pen to paper on a four-year deal in Glasgow.
Despite joining on a free, McCarthy was not a cheap addition to the team as his reported wage is £14k-per-week across those four years – taking his total potential income to just over £2.9m.
He is now three years into that four year deal and it remains to be seen whether or not the Scottish giants will be able to offload him before the end of the current transfer window.
It has been a howler of a deal for Celtic as they have spent a sizeable sum on his wages, his value has plummeted, and he has not offered much on the pitch.
James McCarthy's plummeting value
At the time of writing, Transfermark currently values the former Crystal Palace central midfielder at just €200k (£168k) and that is a third of how much young goalkeeper Sinisalo is currently worth, which further emphasises how lowly he is valued.
It is also a significant drop from the €3m (£2.5m) Transfermarkt valued the Irish battler at upon his arrival at Parkhead under Ange Postecoglou in 2021.
His plummeting value is not a surprise when you consider his impact, or lack thereof, on the pitch for Celtic over his three seasons at the club so far.
Appearances
10
2
0
Starts
4
0
0
Goals
0
0
0
Assists
0
0
0
Duel success rate
54%
33%
0
As you can see in the table above, McCarthy has only made 12 appearances in the league in three years and started just a third of those matches.
This includes just two outings in the Premiership in the last two seasons, despite not heading out on loan in that time, which illustrates just how little he has contributed on the field.
Therefore, Celtic had a disaster when they swooped to sign the midfielder on a free transfer in the summer of 2021 as they have spending a lot of money on wages for a player whose value is plummeting and who is not providing quality on the pitch for Rodgers now.
