Celtic made a major sale this summer, sending superstar midfielder Matt O’Riley to rising Premier League side Brighton after receiving other offers from England, as well as notable transfer interest from Spanish and Italian clubs headed for the Champions League in Atletico Madrid and Atalanta.
Now, Celtic need to make sure they have a strong enough squad to win the Scottish Premiership again and maybe even make some noise in the new-look Champions League format.
Right now, it looks like they have a main midfield target in mind, as Celtic have been frequently linked with a move for 20-year-old Augsburg midfielder Arne Engels.
After seeing their initial offer worth a few million pounds soundly rejected by Augsburg, Celtic were informed that the Bundesliga side would like at least 10 million pound in return for one of their most prized prospects.
It looks like Celtic have obliged, as the Daily Mail reports that the Scottish giants have agreed to break their transfer record and sign the player for 11 million pounds, with a deal said to be close to completion.
Engels is a talented young midfielder, but the Belgian is also a big risk at that fee, given Celtic are breaking their transfer record for someone who isn’t even a regular starter for Augsburg – a club that is far less prestigious than Celtic.
Last season, Engels started just 13 matches with 19 appearances off the bench, so while he appeared in more games in the 2023/24 season than in 2022/23, he actually started 5 fewer matches and played roughly the same number of minutes (1,400).
Celtic are spending a significant amount of money to sign a young midfielder who doesn’t start regularly for one of the lowest Bundesliga sides, though Engels does have intriguing two-way production with at least a tackle per game in the last two seasons and more than a key pass per game in 2022/23.
If anything, stylistically, Engels would be more of a replacement for Reo Hatate than Matt O’Riley, but, thankfully for the Celtic faithful, the club are not considering selling the Japanese midfielder, too.
Engels could be worth the money in the long run, but for Celtic, 11 million pounds is a very significant fee for a player whose immediate contributions should be positive but nowhere near a Hatate or O’Riley.
It’s a risk, and nobody can truly say if it will be worth it, but the signing, if it happens, should tell you about how highly Brendan Rodgers and the other decision-makers at Celtic rate this young man.
