Celtic went through the recent January transfer without losing any of their key first-team performers to clubs swooping in to pay big money for them.
The Hoops allowed David Turnbull, who failed to earn a place as a regular starter, to join Cardiff on a permanent deal, whilst Marco Tilio, Hyeok-kyu Kwon, and Mikey Johnston were sent out on loan.
Celtic have a rich history of developing and selling talents for profit in recent years, as the likes of Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster, Odsonne Edouard, Jota, and Kristoffer Ajer have been bought and then sold on for more money.
Another great example of their super work in the transfer market is current Liverpool and Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk, who the Hoops hit the jackpot with.
How much Celtic paid for Virgil van Dijk
Neil Lennon swooped in to secure a deal to sign the 21-year-old central defender from Dutch side Groningen for a reported fee of £2.6m in the summer of 2013.
The 6 foot 5 colossus instantly established himself as a regular starter for the Northern Irish boss with 47 appearances in all competitions throughout the 2013/14 campaign, which included 36 in the Scottish Premiership and six in the Champions League.
Van Dijk then played in a staggering 58 matches in all competitions during the 2014/15 season for the Hoops, and chipped in with an eye-catching ten goals and eight assists from centre-back.
His form for Celtic across those two seasons, and ten outings at the start of the 2015/16 campaign, led to interest from south of the border in the summer of 2015.
How much Celtic sold Virgil van Dijk for
Premier League side Southampton won the race to land the Dutch giant for a reported fee of £13m to bolster then-boss Ronald Koeman’s defensive options.
This meant that the Glasgow giants made a 400% profit on the £2.6m they paid Groningen to sign him just two years earlier, with the Saints splashing out £10.4m more for his services in 2015.
Lennon, therefore, hit the jackpot for Celtic with his swoop to sign the towering centre-back in 2013, as he provided quality on the pitch and then earned the club a huge sum of money further down the line.
Brendan Rodgers must now be looking at targets for the upcoming summer transfer window with the hope that he can unearth the next van Dijk to earn the club millions in the future.
As you can see in the table above, the monstrous defender later went on to join Premier League giants Liverpool for a whopping fee of £75m, which meant that the Saints also made a significant profit on him.
The 32-year-old ace has amassed 256 appearances for the Reds in all competitions since his move to Anfield in January 2018, and won the Champions League and the Premier League once each to date.
It seems unlikely that Liverpool will be able to sell him for a profit, given his age and the fee they paid for him, to continue the trend, but they have been rewarded with over 200 appearances and multiple major trophies won.
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