156 players adjusted 

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It was arguably the most exhilarating season in Scottish Premiership history with a thrilling title race decided on the final day of the season. Hearts were on the verge of a historic achievement by winning their first title in 66 years but after occupying top spot for 266 days, Celtic dethroned them in the decider. With 87 minutes on the clock at Parkhead, Hearts held onto the point they needed to be crowned champions but Daizen Maeda scored the decisive goal to ensure Celtic were kings of Scotland once again.

Veteran manager Martin O’Neill deserves immense credit for resurrecting Celtic’s season and the Hoops clinched their 20th title of the decade as their dominance of Scottish football continued. Rangers were firmly in the title race entering the split but they lost four consecutive games as they collapsed to spark questions over the mentality in their squad. Elsewhere, Motherwell enjoyed an outstanding campaign under their highly coveted manager Jens Berthel Askou and their football was a joy to watch. With the league season now concluded, Transfermarkt has released the Scottish Premiership market value update with 156 players’ valuations altered. We’ve run through some of the biggest talking points from the update!

Scottish Premiership: Biggest market value upgrades

Emmanuel Fernandez received the biggest market value upgrade of any player in the Scottish Premiership with the Rangers star’s valuation soaring by €9 million to €18m. The 24-year-old has enjoyed a stratospheric rise, starting the season valued at just €350k but he’s now Rangers’ joint-most valuable player – Mikey Moore will return to Tottenham after his loan spell. There’s significant interest in Fernandez from major European clubs and Rangers are expected to field offers for the Nigerian international this summer.

As the graphic above illustrates, Youssef Chermiti ranks second with his market value rising by €6m to €15m. Transfermarkt understands there’s serious interest from European clubs in the Portugal U21 international, who scored 15 league goals, and his physical profile is extremely appealing to suitors in a market lacking in elite centre-forwards. Benjamin Nygren has been a revelation since joining Celtic, registering 29 goal contributions, and his market value rose by €4m with interest growing in the Swedish international. Hibernian duo Miguel Chaiwa and Josh Mulligan were rewarded amid transfer interest, while Tawanda Maswanhise has been superb for Motherwell and finished top scorer in the league with 17 goals.

Scottish Premiership: Biggest market value downgrades

Celtic and Rangers players dominated the biggest upgrades list and it’s the same story for biggest downgrades. It’s imperative to highlight that four players on the list won’t be at the Old Firm next season with their loan deals ending, including the top three; Julián Araujo, Andreas Skov Olsen and Max Aarons. Araujo impressed after joining Celtic on-loan from Bournemouth before getting injured, while Skov Olsen arrived at Ibrox in January amid huge fanfare but was an absolute disastrous addition, contributing next to nothing.

Max Aarons’ career trajectory continues to decline and he failed to impress on-loan at Rangers from Bournemouth. Aarons’ record market value was €22m at Norwich City but he’s now valued at just €2.5m. Seven players in total received €1m downgrades, including Celtic captain Callum McGregor and Rangers winger Djeidi Gassama.

Scottish Premiership: Most valuable players

Arne Engels remains the most valuable player in Scotland with his valuation increasing by €2m to €20m. Celtic rebuffed several offers from Nottingham Forest in excess of €20m on deadline day during the winter window and Engels has admirers in his homeland Germany and Italy. As the graphic below illustrates, Moore and Fernandez rank second at €18m with the aforementioned Chermiti and Nygren completing the top five.

Celtic edge out Rangers in the top ten list with six players compared to four with Maeda now valued at €13m after an excellent end to the season, scoring in all five split fixtures. The most valuable player outside of Celtic and Rangers is Hearts’ Cláudio Braga. The Portuguese attacker collected the PFA Player of the year award and his valuation increased by €1m in the update to €7m.

Scottish Premiership: Most valuable squads

Celtic remain the most valuable squad in Scotland but Rangers have closed the gap at the top. Despite winning the league, the Hoops’ squad overall dropped by 0.17% to €145, which remains €11m ahead of Rangers. Celtic have enjoyed incredible success in selling players for substantial profits in recent years but their squad isn’t littered with talents and there’s a widespread acceptance that significant investment is needed this summer.

Substantial upgrades for Fernandez and Chermiti ensured Rangers’ overall squad value rose by €10.3m to €134m. Hearts’ squad value rose by 14.9% to €32m but it remains more than €100m behind their Glasgow rivals. Capitalising on Tony Bloom’s famed Jamestown Analytics data system will be pivotal to Hearts’ long-term success and they will be very active in the summer market. Motherwell (+35.5%) and Falkirk (+34.8%) had the biggest rise in squad value in this update after enjoying fantastic seasons with relegated Livingston occupying bottom spot.

How Transfermarkt market values work

The Transfermarkt market values are calculated, taking into account various pricing models. A major factor is the Transfermarkt community, whose members discuss and evaluate player market values in detail. In general, the Transfermarkt market values are not to be equated with transfer fees.
The goal is not to predict a price but an expected value of a player in a free market. Both individual transfer modalities and situational conditions are relevant in determining market values. Examples of this are listed below. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm (you can find the detailed market value definition here).