Over the years, Celtic has spent money on busts and struck gold on sensations in the transfer market, but they have also had their fair share of howlers and blindness.
Matt O’Riley, a Danish midfielder who was recruited for a small amount, has been linked to moves to Inter and Leeds United in recent weeks, meaning he might become the latest player to earn the team millions of dollars.
He was purchased by the Hoops for an estimated £1.5 million from English League One team MK Dons. He is currently reputedly valued at an incredible £25 million, meaning the Scottish powerhouses might benefit handsomely from his acquisition.
However, there are also many examples of Celtic wasting money on players and versatile defender Massimo Donati was one the club had a nightmare with.
How much Celtic paid to sign Massimo Donati
In the summer of 2007, the Bhoys swooped to sign the Italian enforcer from AC Milan to bolster their squad for a fee Sky Sports reported to be worth £3m.
He had only made 27 appearances for the San Siro giants during his time with the club, and had spent the 2006/07 campaign on loan with Atalanta in the Serie A.
| Massimo Donati’s last three seasons before Celtic move | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serie A | Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow cards |
| 2004/05 | 34 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2005/06 | 33 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 2006/07 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Stats via Transfermarkt | ||||
Donati, as you can see in the table above, played regular football in the Italian top-flight over the three seasons leading up to his £3m move to Celtic, on loan with Atalanta in the third year after two campaigns on loan with Messina.
Celtic’s Massimo Donati nightmare
The 26-year-old arrived in Glasgow and enjoyed a decent debut season with the club as he racked up four goals and four assists in 36 appearances in all competitions.
However, Donati lost his place in the starting XI towards the end of the 2007/08 campaign and his agent, Andrea D’Amico, claimed that the player was “disappointed” not to play, and wanted to speak with the club to discuss the midfielder’s future.
The Italian flop ultimately remained at Parkhead and went on to make just six appearances in all competitions the following season, which included him being either an unused substitute or not in the matchday squad for the opening ten games of the Scottish Premiership term.
Midway through that season, Donati revealed that he would be interested in a move to Atalanta and was desperate enough to make the move from Celtic that he was willing to take a pay cut to join them, although the dud stated that it would not be more than 50% lower.
He said: “I’d be available to deal with any of Atalanta’s requirements – it’s the club that made me a player. Maybe not a 50% cut of my salary but if we should come to discuss things seriously there wouldn’t be any problem.”
A move did not materialise in the January transfer window, despite his apparent desperation to return to his home country, and he eventually made a permanent move away from the Scottish giants in the summer, with a £1.5m move to Italian side Bari.
This meant that Celtic had a nightmare as they sold him for half of what they paid Milan for his services for just one full season of regular football, in which he was still ‘disappointed’ by his lack of minutes by the end of the campaign.
It was, therefore, £3m wasted by the Scottish giants as they could have spent that money on other targets during the summer window in 2007 and found better value for money, instead of a flop who they lost £1.5m on in the space of two years.
