Neil Lennon Makes £30million Claim About Future Celtic Exits

The 2025 summer window for Celtic is going to be an extremely interesting one, with players potentially on the move out, but also additions already lined up, specifically Kieran Tierney returning to the Hoops with a pre-contract in place.

The difficulty with the Celtic form of squad management is they have to supplement it with a mix of youth and veteran leadership, and to do so, some of their quality talents have to be moved on at the top of their transfer value.

We saw it last summer with Matt O'Riley who went for £30million transfer package to Brighton & Hove Albion, and in previous years with Jota and Kieran Tierney, both of whom now return at lower value.

For 2025, there are a few candidates Celtic has kept an eye on, both when it comes to departures and additions, such as potentially bringing in Mathias Kvistgaarden among others.

This way of doing business is extremely efficient for the Scottish side even though it might frustrate the fans a lot of the time.

Celtic legend Neil Lennon recently discussed the process, and how players like Arne Engels and Luke McCowan have become valuable assets following the departure of Matt O'Riley.

As reported by 67 Hail Hail, when asked if there will be a big sale in the summer, Lennon told Premier Sports: "That’s the point. There are a lot of assets in that team and in that squad. O’Riley went in the summer for £30 million. He was a great player and had a fantastic season. 

'The evolution of the team, if anything, Celtic have improved again this year. Then you go and get a player like Engels and McCowan, who has gone under the radar really, then turn them into assets. 

"They have been working like this for the last 15-20 years with unbelievable success."

He is spot on with his analysis of the transfer system Celtic runs, and how players like Engels and McCowan have had a chance to thrive in Brendan Rodgers' scheme. Having young assets and quality depth is a key to winning trophies, and the Hoops have both in spades, which has helped facilitate their success in recent seasons.

Even with the Kyogo Furuhashi deal, being able to turn the transfer into a trade of sorts to get Jota back is exceptional work, given how strong the latter performed in his first time with the club.

These types of deals are always interesting to watch play out, but Celtic have done an extremely strong job managing their assets in their entirety, and making the right choices to build a very well-balanced roster.