Celtic returned from the last international break of the season with a bang as they secured a 3-0 win over Hearts at Parkhead in the Scottish Premiership.
The Hoops had to bounce back from their 3-2 defeat to Rangers in front of their home supporters before the break, and that is what they did with a comfortable win on Saturday.
Daizen Maeda scored two goals, slotting through in a one-on-one and tapping in from close range, to send the Bhoys on their way to the win in the first-half.
Those two strikes have taken the Japan international’s tally for the season to 30 goals and nine assists in 43 appearances in all competitions for the Hoops, as he has emerged as a consistent scoring threat for the club.
The 27-year-old attacker, who scored the first and third goals on the day, was not the only forward who got his name on the scoresheet, though, as Jota also found the back of the net.
Celtic’s Portuguese sensation was the first to react to Maeda hitting the post to sweep the ball in for the team’s second, continuing his fairytale return to Parkhead.
Why Jota has been an excellent signing for Celtic
The Scottish giants reportedly paid a fee of £8m to sign the winger from Ligue 1 side Rennes in the January transfer window, 18 months on from his £25m move to Al Ittihad from Glasgow.
Because he had already played two seasons for Celtic in the past under Ange Postecoglou, Brendan Rodgers knew that the club were bringing in a proven talent at Premiership level.
As the graphic above illustrates, the Portugal international has the quality to terrorise opposition defences in the Scottish top-flight due to his ability to both score and assist goals consistently from either the left or the right flank.
Since his return to Parkhead, Jota has racked up four goals, three ‘big chances’ created, and two assists in just five starts and eight total appearances in the division.
Goals
0.84
Top 1%
xG
0.58
Top 4%
xG on target
0.86
Top 1%
Shots on target
1.67
Top 1%
Assists
0.42
Top 12%
Chances created
2.09
Top 22%
As you can see in the table above, the 26-year-old sensation ranks incredibly highly against his positional peers when it comes to scoring goals, making the most of his xG, and creating chances for his teammates at the top end of the pitch.
These statistics suggest that Jota has, therefore, been one of the best wingers in the league, and arguably the best goalscoring winger, since his return to the club for £8m in the winter window.
Despite his sensational form for the Scottish giants in the last couple of months, the former Benfica man still does not crack the top five most valuable players at Parkhead.
Celtic's most valuable players
According to Transfermarkt, Jota is currently valued at £7.5m, just £500k short of the actual fee that Celtic reportedly paid for him at the start of the year, and that places him seventh within the squad.
This means that the Portuguese wizard does not sit in the top five most valuable players at the club, despite his phenomenal form, as the likes of Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda are currently more valuable than him.
Cameron Carter-Vickers
£11.7m
Nicolas Kuhn
£10m
Arne Engels
£10m
Daizen Maeda
£9.2m
Reo Hatate
£9.2m
Alistair Johnston
£8.4m
Jota
£7.5m
Auston Trusty
£6.3m
Callum McGregor
£5.4m
Greg Taylor
£5.4m
As you can see in the table above, Jota ranks seventh overall and USA international Cameron Carter-Vickers is sat at the top with a value of £11.7m.
The Scottish giants have built a squad that is full of highly-valued stars, hence why the Portuguese forward ranks so lowly despite his quality, as they have hit the jackpot with several fantastic signings.
One star they struck gold by signing during Postecoglou’s tenure in the dugout in Glasgow has been right-back Alistair Johnston, whose value has soared since his initial move to the club.
Alistair Johnston's soaring market value
The Canada international was reportedly signed from CF Montreal for a fee of £3m in the January transfer window at the start of 2023, shortly before Josip Juranovic moved to Union Berlin later that month.
He was tasked with replacing the Croatia international, who had scored one goal and provided one assist in ten league matches during the first half of the season, and hit the ground running with one goal, one assist, and five ‘big chances’ created in 14 appearances in the Premiership.
In the words of Rodgers, Johnston has been an “inspiration”, following that up with 11 ‘big chances’ created and five assists in 32 league outings for the Scottish giants in his first full season at the club.
In the current campaign, the 26-year-old star has created 13 ‘big chances’, scored four goals, and registered seven assists in 27 games, as he has continued to prove that he is a huge attacking threat from the right-back position for the Hoops.
The Celtic dynamo’s fantastic performances on the pitch over the last two-and-a-bit-years have led to his market value soaring by more than £5m, to the point where he is now worth even more than star winger Jota.
Jan 2023
£3m reported fee
June 2023
£5.8m
November 2023
£6.3m
March 2024
£6.7m
May 2024
£7.1m
December 2024
£7.5m
March 2025
£8.4m
As you can see in the table above, Johnston’s market value has steadily increased throughout his time in Glasgow, which illustrates how he has continually impressed and progressed at Parkhead.
At the time of writing, he is valued at £8.4m – £5.4m more than the £3m that the club reportedly paid for him – and £900k more than Jota is worth, as well as £400k more than the reported fee that was paid to Rennes for him in January.
This shows that the Premiership champions hit the jackpot when they swooped to sign him from the MLS at the start of 2023, as he has become a trusted figure at the back for the Hoops whilst also growing in value to establish himself as one of the most valuable players in the squad.
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The Bhoys will now be hoping that Johnston can continue to progress to either go on and become a long-serving club icon or to be sold for a significant profit in the future.