Executive Summary
31%
Clubs' average hit rate
In total we identified 149 real signings by the clubs of Premiership in the 2024/25 season — academy promotions, loan returns, internal moves and transfers that never went through are excluded. Of these, 144 are included in the hit-rate calculation; 5 are youth investments (under-23 with no game time), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes in the season count as unsuccessful.
Club Ranking
| Club | League position | Signings | Evaluated | Successful | Fair | Unsuccessful | Hit rate % | SigningLab* |
|---|
| 1 | Celtic | 1º | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 83% | 100% |
| 2 | Rangers | 2º | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 56% | 75% |
| 3 | Hibernian | 3º | 11 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 54% | 73% |
| 4 | Ross County | 11º | 10 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 50% | 60% |
| 5 | Dundee Utd | 4º | 19 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 40% | 74% |
| 6 | Aberdeen | 5º | 11 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 36% | 91% |
| 7 | ST Mirren | 7º | 10 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 35% | 80% |
| 8 | Heart Of Midlothian | 6º | 13 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 33% | 83% |
| 9 | Motherwell | 8º | 15 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 32% | 86% |
| 10 | ST Johnstone | 12º | 14 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 25% | 79% |
| 11 | Dundee | 10º | 10 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11% | 100% |
| 12 | Kilmarnock | 9º | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10% | 100% |
| 13 | Ayr Utd | 14º | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0% | 100% |
| 14 | Livingston | 13º | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0% | 100% |
| 15 | Partick | 15º | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0% | 100% |
* SigningLab: hit rate of SigningLab’s verdicts (recommend or not recommend) on each club’s evaluated signings, projected at the time of signing.
The difference between Signings and Evaluated are youth investments (under-23 with no game time in the season), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes are unsuccessful (Did not deliver).
Season Highlights
The ten signings with the greatest technical impact of the season, according to the Player Impact Score (PIS).
| Player | Club | Pos | Min | G+A | Avg rating | Rating | SigningLab |
|---|
| Václav Černý | Rangers | F | 2492 | 12+4 | 7.42 | Excellent |
| Arne Engels | Celtic | M | 2135 | 9+6 | 6.99 | Excellent |
| Luke McCowan | Celtic | M | 1311 | 6+7 | 6.80 | Excellent |
| Kevin Holt | Dundee Utd | D | 1907 | 2+1 | 6.93 | Excellent |
| Will Ferry | Dundee Utd | M | 3146 | 0+4 | 7.21 | Excellent |
| Elliot Watt | ST Johnstone | M | 510 | 2+1 | 4.04 | Excellent |
| Akil Wright | Ross County | D | 3420 | 4+1 | 7.06 | Excellent |
| Hamza Igamane | Rangers | F | 1992 | 12+1 | 6.97 | Excellent |
| Kasper Schmeichel | Celtic | G | 2880 | 0+0 | 6.92 | Excellent |
| Dwight Gayle | Hibernian | F | 920 | 6+4 | 6.16 | Good |
Methodology
Club assessment — the universe of signings
The report considers exclusively genuine signings for the first-team squad, identified by the player's effective incorporation into the group between seasons. Excluded from the universe are: academy promotions, loan returns, internal administrative moves and transfers recorded but never completed. The aim is to measure the quality of market decisions — and those alone.
Player Impact Score (PIS)
Each evaluated signing receives a score from 0 to 100 that combines four observable technical dimensions: individual performance (average match ratings over the season), output (goals, assists and decisive actions adjusted for game time), collective performance (starting status and correlation with the club's results) and availability (volume of matches, adjusted for interruptions). High-impact players with reduced game time are promoted through an alternative efficiency criterion.
Outcome classification
The rating tiers are: Excellent and Good (successful signings — a full point in the index), Fair (intermediate performance — half a point) and Below expectations / Did not deliver (unsuccessful signings). Two categories sit outside the calculation, for distinct reasons: Injury (a serious injury prevented a fair assessment) and Investment (an under-23 player with low game time — the return depends on development and cannot be counted for or against the club in this cycle). Signings that did not reach relevant game time in the season are classified as unsuccessful, reflecting the sporting cost of the decision.
A note on scope
This is SigningLab's public, simplified model, developed for transparent retrospective market assessment. SigningLab's commercial solutions for partner clubs use a substantially larger set of variables and dedicated predictive mechanisms, and are not fully reflected in this document.
Appendix — Signings by club
* Youth investment (under-23, no game time in the season) — outside the hit-rate calculation.
Aberdeen (11 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Topi Keskinen | 36 | 2454 | 5 | 2 | Fair |
| Sivert Heltne Nilsen | 27 | 2134 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Dimitar Mitov | 26 | 2115 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Kevin Nisbet | 34 | 1955 | 11 | 5 | Fair |
| Ante Palaversa | 35 | 1796 | 2 | 1 | Fair |
| Gavin Molloy | 20 | 1698 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Mats Knoester | 13 | 1137 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Jeppe Okkels | 17 | 864 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Kristers Tobers | 10 | 774 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Oday Dabbagh | 13 | 375 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Peter Ambrose | 30 | 290 | 1 | 0 | Below expectations |
Ayr Utd (6 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Jay Henderson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Michael Devlin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Ryan Howley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Scott McMann | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Alfie Bavidge | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Nathan McGinley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Celtic (6 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Kasper Schmeichel | 33 | 2880 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Arne Engels | 35 | 2135 | 9 | 6 | Excellent |
| Auston Trusty | 33 | 1917 | 1 | 1 | Good |
| Luke McCowan | 35 | 1311 | 6 | 7 | Excellent |
| Jeffrey Schlupp | 14 | 686 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Viljami Sinisalo | 38 | 540 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
Dundee (10 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Simon Murray | 38 | 3118 | 16 | 3 | Fair |
| Ziyad Larkeche | 27 | 2129 | 3 | 3 | Fair |
| Clark Robertson | 23 | 1747 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Ethan Ingram | 34 | 1233 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Billy Koumetio | 25 | 1225 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Cesar Garza | 17 | 423 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Sammy Braybrooke | 19 | 247 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Scott Fraser | 8 | 152 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Sean Kelly | 7 | 125 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Víctor López * | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Dundee Utd (19 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Jack Walton | 38 | 3240 | 0 | 0 | Good |
| Will Ferry | 35 | 3146 | 0 | 4 | Excellent |
| Vicko Ševelj | 35 | 2902 | 2 | 3 | Excellent |
| Declan Gallagher | 35 | 2891 | 1 | 2 | Fair |
| Emmanuel Adegboyega | 35 | 2582 | 3 | 0 | Good |
| Ryan Strain | 30 | 2333 | 0 | 4 | Good |
| Kevin Holt | 24 | 1907 | 2 | 1 | Excellent |
| David Babunski | 34 | 1401 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Ross Docherty | 25 | 1361 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Kristijan Trapanovski | 32 | 1344 | 3 | 2 | Below expectations |
| Jort van der Sande | 38 | 1048 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Allan Campbell | 14 | 773 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Louis Moult | 23 | 678 | 3 | 0 | Fair |
| Richard Odada | 22 | 327 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Dave Richards | 38 | 180 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Lewis Fiorini | 9 | 59 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Meshack Ubochioma | 21 | 25 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| David Wotherspoon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Alex Greive | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Heart Of Midlothian (13 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| James Penrice | 34 | 2907 | 2 | 5 | Good |
| Blair Spittal | 35 | 2392 | 4 | 3 | Excellent |
| Daniel Oyegoke | 23 | 1265 | 1 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Malachi Boateng | 24 | 1219 | 0 | 2 | Below expectations |
| Elton Kabangu | 16 | 1003 | 6 | 1 | Fair |
| Yan Dhanda | 34 | 856 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Jamie McCart | 11 | 856 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Michael Steinwender | 14 | 712 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Gerald Taylor | 12 | 570 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Sander Erik Kartum | 13 | 432 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Ryan Fulton | 9 | 248 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Harry Milne | 9 | 239 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Andrés Salazar * | 8 | 87 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Hibernian (11 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Warren O'Hora | 38 | 2573 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Jordan Smith | 38 | 2250 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Jack Iredale | 33 | 2242 | 1 | 1 | Good |
| Nicky Cadden | 30 | 1715 | 5 | 7 | Excellent |
| Junior Hoilett | 34 | 1560 | 4 | 4 | Fair |
| Josef Bursik | 38 | 1170 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Hyeok-kyu Kwon | 25 | 1104 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Marvin Ekpiteta | 23 | 1092 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Dwight Gayle | 31 | 920 | 6 | 4 | Good |
| Kieron Bowie | 18 | 637 | 6 | 1 | Good |
| Alasana Manneh | 11 | 96 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Kilmarnock (5 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Robby McCrorie | 36 | 1815 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Bruce Anderson | 38 | 1492 | 11 | 1 | Fair |
| Jack Burroughs | 21 | 401 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Oliver Bainbridge | 19 | 162 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Mark Birighitti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Livingston (8 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Stevie May | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Robbie Muirhead | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Marcelo Pitaluga * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Lewis Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Andy Winter * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Daniel Finlayson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Ryan McGowan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Jérôme Prior | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Motherwell (15 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Liam Gordon | 28 | 2317 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Aston Oxborough | 31 | 2250 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Tom Sparrow | 34 | 1894 | 6 | 1 | Fair |
| Tawanda Maswanhise | 34 | 1599 | 6 | 3 | Good |
| Kofi Balmer | 33 | 1404 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Ellery Balcombe | 15 | 1080 | 0 | 1 | Good |
| Dominic Thompson | 15 | 1007 | 0 | 2 | Below expectations |
| Steve Seddon | 22 | 909 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Apostolos Stamatelopoulos | 16 | 893 | 5 | 1 | Fair |
| Zach Robinson | 13 | 581 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Johnny Koutroumbis | 22 | 453 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Jair Tavares | 16 | 290 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Ross Callachan | 1 | 17 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Jili Buyabu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Adam Montgomery * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Partick (3 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Ross Stewart | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Daniel MacKay | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Lee Ashcroft | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Rangers (8 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Václav Černý | 33 | 2492 | 12 | 4 | Excellent |
| Robin Propper | 35 | 2019 | 2 | 0 | Good |
| Hamza Igamane | 34 | 1992 | 12 | 1 | Excellent |
| Connor Barron | 33 | 1954 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Nedim Bajrami | 33 | 1453 | 2 | 1 | Fair |
| Liam Kelly | 38 | 900 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Neraysho Kasanwirjo | 12 | 353 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Rafael Fernandes | 6 | 31 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Ross County (10 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Akil Wright | 38 | 3420 | 4 | 1 | Excellent |
| Kacper Łopata | 31 | 2464 | 0 | 1 | Good |
| Ronan Hale | 38 | 2344 | 12 | 0 | Good |
| Joshua Nisbet | 36 | 2288 | 3 | 2 | Fair |
| Noah Chilvers | 31 | 1998 | 3 | 5 | Good |
| Jonathan Tomkinson | 15 | 1043 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Aidan Denholm | 16 | 690 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Jack Grieves | 32 | 680 | 0 | 2 | Did not deliver |
| Jack Hamilton | 22 | 315 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Ricky Lamie | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
ST Johnstone (14 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Jason Holt | 31 | 2100 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Jack Sanders | 22 | 1923 | 1 | 1 | Excellent |
| André Raymond | 20 | 1277 | 0 | 2 | Did not deliver |
| Lewis Neilson | 18 | 1276 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Andrew Fisher | 14 | 1260 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Joshua Rae | 23 | 1215 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Daniels Balodis | 13 | 1170 | 2 | 0 | Fair |
| Kyle Cameron | 18 | 1138 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Aaron Essel | 24 | 842 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Stephen Duke-McKenna | 13 | 759 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Víctor Griffith | 12 | 698 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Josh McPake | 32 | 554 | 1 | 3 | Good |
| Elliot Watt | 14 | 510 | 2 | 1 | Excellent |
| Uche Ikpeazu | 5 | 227 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
ST Mirren (10 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Killian Phillips | 35 | 2942 | 4 | 1 | Good |
| Ellery Balcombe | 21 | 1890 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Declan John | 24 | 1286 | 2 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Roland Idowu | 34 | 1268 | 4 | 2 | Below expectations |
| Ryan Alebiosu | 13 | 993 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Alex Iacovitti | 19 | 811 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Oisin Smyth | 38 | 676 | 4 | 0 | Good |
| Shaun Rooney | 6 | 518 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Dennis Adeniran | 13 | 239 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Kevin van Veen | 5 | 188 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |