Rangers have been told they have the most valuable squad in Scotland - surpassing rivals Celtic by a whopping £18million. The figures released by reputed football database Transfermarkt show that seven of the most valuable players in the country play at Ibrox - despite a cash-rich recruitment drive at Parkhead last summer.
Celtic's big-money moves
Celtic threw big money at some key recruits with £31.6m spent on Camilo Duran, Kasper Hogh, Mika Baur, Haissem Hassan, Joel van den Berg and Jordan Lotomba, while the likes of Arne Engels, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda commanded bumper fees to leave Glasgow's East End.
Benjamin Nygren - valued at around £12million - was valued as the most expensive Celtic player. Hogh saw a slight increase on the record-breaking £11million the Glasgow giants forked out for him, coming in at £12million, while Germany call-up Baur was valued at £6.8million.
Rangers' record rebuild
Rangers splashed a record £35.6million to rebuild Derek McInnes' squad this summer with the overall valuation increasing by 4.6 per cent year-on-year, compared to 4.1 per cent for their rivals.
Emmanuel Fernandez was named the most expensive player in the country for the second consecutive year, being valued at £13.6million. Youssef Chermiti - who was subject of a £22million bid by Besiktas before a nightmare injury - is now valued at £12.7million, while Nico Raskin has the same market value according to the transfer boffins.
Min-su Kim, Badredine Bouanani, Kevin Kelsy and Olwethu Makhanya complete the top 10, with the South Africa international enjoying the biggest jump in price tag. Since his move from Philadelphia Union to Rangers his value has quadrupled to £6.8million, having impressed alongside Fernandez in the early part of the campaign.
Beyond the Glasgow giants
Outside of the Glasgow giants, Claudio Braga has been named as the most valuable player - with the Hearts star coming in at £5.1million. The Jambos have the third-highest value squad, coming in at £21million.
Of the Premiership clubs, St Mirren's squad value had the biggest percentage rise of 18.6 per cent with the club taking on a date-led approach following the appointment of Craig McLeish as permanent boss. At the opposite end of the table, Falkirk are said to have the lowest squad value of the top flight clubs. John McGlynn's side are priced at a combined £5.2m.
