Atalanta ‘appreciates’ Arne Engels – Celtic’s record signing on Ibrox assault

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·07 de janeiro de 2025

Atalanta ‘appreciates’ Arne Engels – Celtic’s record signing on Ibrox assault

Arne Engels spoke to the media at Lennoxtown this afternoon ahead of the Scottish Premiership match at Celtic Park on Wednesday evening against Dundee United…

Arne Engels celebrates scoring during the match between Celtic and Motherwell at Celtic Park, on 26th December 2024. (Picture by Mark Runnacles)

Angels has attracted interest in Italy from Europa League holders Atalanta who Celtic held to a goalless draw in Bergamo back in October. Now an Italian media outlet gives some insight into Atalanta’s interest in Celtic’s record signing, although no approach is imminent. It’s interesting that they value Engels at around £18m so Celtic’s initial £11m investment seems to be good business as is mostly the case these days.

Vídeos OneFootball

Arne Engels in action during the Premier Sports Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star

Google translate reckons that this is the English translation from the Italian outlet.

Atalanta is always looking for new and young talents. After what we have told you in recent days, including Cherki, we can add a profile that the Lombard club is following and that it has recently faced in the Champions League. We are talking about Arne Engels, Belgian midfielder born in 2003 for Celtic, bought last summer by the Scots for around 11 million. Already an important valuation and which has now grown by at least 7-8 million: Atalanta appreciates him and will continue to follow him, for the moment nothing more.

Arne Engels & Brendan Rodgers during the Premier Sports Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star

Here’s everything that was said at Arne Engels media conference…

Continues on the next page…

Arne Engels of Celtic FC and Jashari Ardon of Club Brugge during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic and Club Brugge on November 27, 2024. Photo: Peter De Voecht

Q: How have you found it, the game’s come thick and fast here in Scotland over Christmas and New Year, how’s it been?

Arne Engels: “It’s been good, it’s been really fast, like you said, every three days we have a game, so it’s coming really fast, but that’s the way we like it actually, so that we don’t need to think about our previous game and just go on. I think we are in a really good way, in a good situation now, so it’s all nice that the games are coming quickly.”

Q: Does that help when you have a rare disappointment, like theRangers game, that you’ve had the chance to bounce back quickly?

Arne Engels: “100 per cent, we knew that we needed to focus on the next game and that’s what we did, and you see in the game, the last game, that we can perform, that we always can bounce back and that’s what we did.”

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic looks on following the SPL Premier League match between Rangers FC and Celtic FC at Ibrox on January 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: How have you found the reaction to theRangers defeat and the way things can be here in Glasgow, where the reaction is very extreme, whether it’s good or bad?

Arne Engels: “I think it’s normal, when you lose a game, it’s always not nice to hear from the fans, and they need to be disappointed and we are also really disappointed in ourselves. We know that we could have done better and we analysed the game really well, and you see in the next game that we do the things right and you see directly that we can score a lot of goals.”

Q: The manager was calling on the fans to trust the team, trust him, maybe be a bit more patient in games like the St Mirren game. What’s that like for you as a player? Do you sense it from the crowd?

Arne Engels: “I only sense positive feelings. We are doing our job, we know what we are doing inside the game, we know that we also sometimes need to slow down the game to then go on really quickly and create a lot of chances. We know that we will create a lot and we trust ourselves and that we can score and that our scoring abilities are really good.

Arne Engels at Tynecastle. Hearts v Celtic, 23 November 2024. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: What have you made of your own form over the last month or two?

Arne Engels: “I think I’m in good form. I’m performing well, I think. You can always do better. Like every sportsman, you always want to do better in every game, even if you score or give an assist. You always have some points that you want to see improved, but I think in general I’m doing fine.”

Q: As you say, you’re performing well, you’re getting goals and assists, but in some of the bigger games the manager has decided to start you on the bench. How has that been for you since you’ve moved to the club?

Arne Engels: “I think it’s sometimes normal. I think it’s up to me to show in training that I’m ready for the big games. I think I did that. Like every player in the team, everybody wants to be in that team when the big games arrive. But everybody does really great, so then it’s just waiting for the opportunity and then take it. I think that’s what I did and I hopefully will do it also in the next games.

Nicolas Kuhn celebrates with teammate Arne Engels after scoring his team’s third goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on January 05, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: When you see your name on the substitutes’ bench for those big games, the Cup final or the game at Ibrox, does it then spur you on to say, when these big games come around in a month’s time, Champions League or other big cup games, I want to be in the starting eleven? Is that what drives you on?

Arne Engels: “Yeah, 100%. It needs to drive you on. Like I said, it’s up to me to show in training and show in the games that I get, the minutes that I get, that I’m deserving to be in the starting eleven. But everybody will do that and everybody will show that in training, so that’s a really nice competition that we have here. Then it’s just the manager that decides, so we’ll see.

Q: In terms of the level, the expectation, has it been what you thought it would be at a club like Celtic? From the fans’ expectation, the expectation of the manager, just the general expectation on you?

Arne Engels: “Like in the beginning everybody was telling, do you feel the pressure or something like that, but I don’t really feel it. I just want to play, want to enjoy my football and that’s why I’m here, why everybody’s here, I think. Everybody wants to improve every day and that’s what we are doing here in the training ground. So it’s always nice to see the things that you are working on, that you see them improving in the games. So those are all positive feelings that I have now.

Arne discusses coin attack by Ibrox thugs on next page…

Arne Engels hit by coins at Ibrox

Q: You were obviously involved in an ugly incident at theRangers game at Ibrox. How are you, first of all? How are you feeling after being hit (by coins thrown at him by theRangers support)?

Arne Engels: “I’m good. In the beginning it was a bit sore, but at the end it was okay It’s not really nice to experience things like that. You just want to play your game and just want to enjoy the football. It was not really enjoyable that night, but it was not a really nice incident.”

Arne Engels hit by coins at Ibrox

Q: Were you able to shake it off? I know it was still late in the game, but it must have been a worry for you?

Arne Engels: “You always need to switch on and that’s why you are a football player. You always need to think on the next situation and that’s what everybody is telling you. You need to think about the next situation. That’s, I think, what I did. In the end, you can always look back on it and think maybe it was not really nice or this or that. In the end, you need to perform. I think it was in the last ten minutes or something. You still need to play those ten minutes. It’s a really high-level game. You still need to do it.”

Match Referee, Don Robertson removes an object from the pitch after it was thrown towards and hit Arne Engels of Celtic during the SPL Premier League match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on January 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Has anything like that ever happened to you before? Have you seen it in Germany or Belgium at all?

Arne Engels: “Sometimes you see things like that, like beer spilling all over you, but not really throwing things on top of your head or something. It’s never nice and it’s never good to happen in a football stadium. You are there to do your job and I think you guys never experienced something like it, that somebody will throw coins or something on your heads during your work. So it’s never really nice to see that happen and experiencing that, but in the end, you need to get through.

Match commander gathers evidence against theRangers thugs

Q: Is there anything in general that surprised you about Scottish football over the last three or four months? Anything that stood out for you at all?

Arne Engels: “Only positive feelings. The atmosphere in Celtic Park is amazing every time. So only positive things like this. Not really something bad I can tell.”