---
title: "Profit Players: Celtic and Stuart Armstrong"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/profit-players-celtic-and-stuart-armstrong/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Liam Togher"
section: "Features"
published: "2019-09-23T17:30:41Z"
modified: "2019-09-23T17:30:41Z"
---

# Profit Players: Celtic and Stuart Armstrong

![](https://cdn.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Profit-Players-1.png)

***This article forms part of our Profit Players feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how well a player has turned out since being signed/sold and using statistical figures and statements from key figures to prove how good of a deal the club managed to achieve.***

When Celtic sold Moussa Dembele to Lyon in August 2018 for £19.7m, as reported by [BBC](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45377409), it was the biggest fee they had ever received for one player until Kieran Tierney’s [£25m move to Arsenal this summer](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49283667) eclipsed it.

The [next biggest transfer sum received by the Hoops in the summer 2018 transfer window](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/celtic-glasgow/alletransfers/verein/371) was substantially smaller but not inconsiderable, with Southampton paying £7m for Stuart Armstrong, according to the [BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44619120).

The midfielder had been very prolific for Celtic during the 2016/17 season, scoring [17 goals in all competitions](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/stuart-armstrong/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/130765/plus/0/saison/2018/wettbewerb/GB1/verein/180), but his goal return dwindled to only [five in the following campaign](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/stuart-armstrong/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/130765/plus/0/saison/2018/wettbewerb/GB1/verein/180).

When the Hoops agreed a £7m fee with Southampton for him, he became their [most lucrative sale in three years](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/celtic-glasgow/alletransfers/verein/371) since Virgil van Dijk made the same move for £13m, as reported by [BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/34115519).

These Celtic fans on Twitter seemed to welcome the club’s decision to sell Armstrong to the Saints for £7m:

> Celtic even more minted now £7million boooooom
>
> — jack (@penecelt) [June 25, 2018](https://twitter.com/penecelt/status/1011224780584996864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> He’ll be playing championship football in no time at a garbage club [@SouthamptonFC](https://twitter.com/SouthamptonFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> — Dannybhoy1976 (@Dannybhoy7688) [June 25, 2018](https://twitter.com/Dannybhoy7688/status/1011242702929842177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> 6 good months out of 2 1/2 years….wish him well but struggled to get in team last season & would have been same next. Clearly no desire like Broony to stay the course.
>
> — Slimshady (@Slimshady1961) [June 25, 2018](https://twitter.com/Slimshady1961/status/1011282337731174400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Good player but sorry comparing with Naka and Lubo in particular is madness
>
> — Maxibhoy (@maxibhoy) [June 26, 2018](https://twitter.com/maxibhoy/status/1011672107682590720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Definitely good business for Celtic, in 6 months he would be free to sign a pre-contract, getting £7m plus add ons for him now is excellent. Best wishes for him down south.
>
> — petero (@petero62) [June 25, 2018](https://twitter.com/petero62/status/1011164035809767424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Armstrong has had nowhere near as much of an impact at Southampton as he had with Celtic, not least in that prolific 2016/17 campaign.

He managed just [four goals last season from 32 appearances in all competitions](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/stuart-armstrong/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/130765/plus/0/saison/2018/wettbewerb/GB1/verein/180) and made just [16 Premier League starts](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/93677/History/Stuart-Armstrong). His [three league goals](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/stuart-armstrong/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/130765/plus/0/saison/2018/wettbewerb/GB1/verein/180) came during an [eight-day spell last winter](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/stuart-armstrong/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/130765/plus/0/saison/2018/wettbewerb/GB1/verein/180) and ultimately yielded [only one extra point](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/stuart-armstrong/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/130765/plus/0/saison/2018/wettbewerb/GB1/verein/180) for the Saints.

The 27-year-old has struggled for game-time in the early weeks of this season at St Mary’s. He started none of their first seven matches in all competitions, being given a paltry 54 minutes off the bench in total. \[[via TransferMarkt.co.uk](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/stuart-armstrong/leistungsdaten/spieler/130765)\]

Since the resumption of the Premier League following the September international break, he has had only five minutes as a substitute against Sheffield United and a meagre two minutes at the end of the 1-3 loss at Bournemouth last Friday. \[[via TransferMarkt.co.uk](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/stuart-armstrong/leistungsdaten/spieler/130765)\]

Celtic signed Odsonne Edouard permanently in 2018 for just £9m, as per [BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44482698), and sold Armstrong for just £2m less the same summer, with the former having now scored [30 goals](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/odsonne-edouard/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/344152) since then following his [double against Kilmarnock](https://www.skysports.com/football/celtic-vs-kilmarnock/report/411250) at the weekend while the Southampton man has netted four in the same period. Considering his plight down in Hampshire, pulling in that kind of money for a player in the final year of his deal looks to be great business.

In that context, the Hoops certainly seem to have made the right call in accepting £7m from Southampton for Armstrong, especially with him struggling to even get a look-in at St Mary’s.

***Celtic fans, do you think the club sold Armstrong for the right price at the right time? Let us know your views in the comments section below!***