Scottish Premiership market values: Big rises for Engels and Diomandé - Shankland downgraded

The Scottish Premiership has received its first market value update of the new season as the Scottish top-flight saw no less than 71 players receive updated market values after a busy summer transfer window and the preliminary rounds of the new league campaign. In typical fashion, Glasgow giants Celtic and Rangers dominated the discussion with a number of players receiving upgrades and downgrades based on their recent transfer fees or the form they’ve shown over the course of the last two months. But a number of other players across the Scottish top-fight also received interesting updates to their market values. 

Big rises for Celtic and Rangers players

Indeed, no less than 12 of the top 15 biggest increases in market value in the Scottish Premiership market value update were for stars at Celtic and Rangers. The reigning champions saw a total of nine players see their market values rise, such as Luke McCowan (+€400), Nicolas Kühn (+€500k), Paulo Bernardo (+€500k) and Daizen Maeda (+€500k). But the biggest upgrades for Celtic were for ever-present central defender Liam Scales (+€1m) and new signing Adam Idah (+€1.5m), while Arne Engels saw the biggest increase across the entire division, as his market value rose from €9m to €11m. Rangers also saw six of their players increase their market value, with increases to John Souttar (+€500k),Jefté (+€700k), Hamza Igamane (+€800k), while midfield duo Connor Barron and Mohamed Diomandé both saw their market values rise by an impressive €1m. Of course, it wasn’t all good news for the Glasgow giants. Alongside a number of impressive upgrades, Rangers also saw three players lose market value, with Ianis Hagi (-€200k), James Tavernier (-€500k) and Danilo (-€1m) all losing significant amounts. Celtic also saw some first team players lose market value in the form of Maik Nawrocki and Luis Palma, who both saw their market values fall by €500k.

Contrasting fortunes at Aberdeen and Hearts

Elsewhere, it was a very productive market value update for Aberdeen, who have enjoyed an excellent start to the season with six wins from six in the Scottish top-flight. The biggest upgrade for the Dons came in the form of a €300k increase in market value for star centre forward Pape Habib Guèye, whose market value now stands at an impressive €1m after bagging no less than six goals in his first eight games. But the goalscorer hasn’t been the Pittodrie club’s only impressive player so far this season. Alongside Guèye, upgrades have also been handed to Shayden Morris (+€225k), Slobodan Rubezic (+€200k), Ester Sokler (+€200k) and Jamie McGrath (+€100k). And those numbers will surely continue to rise if Jimmy Thelin’s side can continue to impress for the remainder of the season. 

In stark contrast to their rivals up the Scottish east coast, Hearts have had a dreadful start to the season and sit bottom of the Scottish Premiership table with just two points from their first seven league games - which ultimately led to the club sacking head coach Steven Naismith just a few weeks ago. To no great surprise, the poor run of form has impacted a number of Hearts’ key players, with Alan Forrest (-€50k), Kenneth Vargas (-€100k), Beni Baningime (-€300k) and most notably star striker Lawrence Shankland (-€500k) - who has scored just one goal in nine games this season - all dropping market value. Whether whoever ultimately succeeds Naismith will be able to turn things around for the Edinburgh club remains to be seen, but there’s little doubt that they won’t be able to do that without improving the form of the club’s aforementioned star players. 

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).