Signing Arne Engels for just £11m is proving to be an absolute bargain

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The Celtic Star

·26 de fevereiro de 2025

Signing Arne Engels for just £11m is proving to be an absolute bargain

Celtic flexed their financial muscle in the summer by bringing in midfielder Arne Engels from German side FC Augsburg in a record breaking deal costing £11m…

Celtic s Jota scores and celebrates his goal with Arne Engels during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Aberdeen at Celtic Park, on 25th February 2025. Picture by Mark Runnacles Celtic v Aberdeen

The fact Celtic were happy to part with such a huge sum in Scottish football terms proved Brendan Rodgers and the club thought incredibly highly of the young Belgian.

Vídeos OneFootball

Early Engels critics in the SMSM

I have been impressed by Arne Engels ever since he arrived in Glasgow, but I know not all Celtic fans were as enamoured by him as I was, especially in the early days. The opinion that Celtic had overpaid for Engels was also pushed by fans of theRangers as well as some in the mainstream media.

If any Celtic fan thinks it’s wise to listen to the opinion of a group of fans and a bootlicking media who boasted about Hamza Igamane being the first player to leave Scottish football for over £30m only a few months ago, then they need their head examined.

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Arne Engels celebrates scoring a goal to make the score 1-0 Celtic v Dundee, Celtic Park, 5 February 2025 Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

Morelos, Kent and Cantwell

The amount of absolute garbage they have talked up about being the next big thing over these past few years before the player ends up leaving for pennies is incredible. I would be here all day if I named them all but think of Morelos, Kent and Cantwell. These charlatans couldn’t spot a player in a million years so we will judge players with our own eyes, thanks very much.

Engels was never going to come in and suddenly look like the best player in our team. We were paying £11m for his potential, and it’s obvious the club saw plenty of that in the Belgian.

Arne was only 20 when he arrived on these shores and that’s incredibly young to take on such a big move. He was leaving a mid to lower rated team in Germany and coming to a club which demands success every time the teams steps over the white line. It would obviously take him a while to find his feet at such a level.

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Arne Engels of Celtic celebrates scoring to make the score 1-0 Celtic v Dundee at Celtic Park, on 5 February 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

To be honest I actually thought it would have taken him longer than it has to become an integral part of this team. I thought with us also bringing in Paulo Bernardo and Luke McCowan that they perhaps planned to bring him along slowly.

The demands at Celtic are incredible

Obviously with the price tag on his head people would have expected him to be starting every game but the demands at Celtic are incredible with us playing pretty much twice a week, every week and I didn’t envisage he would have got as much game time as he has.

Arne Engels however has proved very quickly that he is a special player. Last night perhaps typified him perfectly. I thought he stood out amongst his peers last night in so many ways. We were sluggish in the first half and Arne seemed to be one of the only players who seemed full of energy. He was everywhere. Creating chances, sticking tackles in, chasing and harassing constantly.

Everything you want from your centre midfielder

Everything you want from your centre midfielder. He played a hand in all of the four goals we scored before he was wisely substituted as the job was done. It was his deflected cross that led to Maeda’s first goal. His determination to win the ball even whilst on the ground led to the third for Callum McGregor. He was also a main part of the build up play leading to Yang’s wonderfully worked fourth goal.

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Arne Engels of Celtic runs with the ball from Youri Tielemans of Aston Villa during the UEFA Champions League match between Aston Villa and Celtic at Villa Park on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

The best of the lot however was his part in our second goal. With Jota breaking away on the counter attack, Engels absolutely burst a lung to get up beside the Portuguese superstar to provide an outlet, with the returning winger finding him perfectly.

Wonderful, unselfish play from Engels

With the goal at his mercy, most players would have blasted a shot on goal but the Belgian showed his composure by squaring the ball back to Jota who was left with a tap in. Wonderful, unselfish play that put the team first over himself. That’s exactly the type of mentality you want to see from such a young player.

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

Engels won Man of the Match last night and it was thoroughly deserved. Any other decision would have been ridiculous quite frankly. It’s far from the first Man of the Match award the Belgian has won this season and it’s great to see his skill and effort being recognised. The potential for Engels to get better and better is incredible. It’s hard to believe he’s only 21.

That’s the same age as Dane Murray and Johnny Kenny, two players we look at as ‘ones for the future’. The way he plays, the responsibility he takes game after game at all levels including the Champions League completely defies his age. It’s not surprising he has already broke into the Belgian national squad.

We have a player on our hands here. £11m is already an absolute bargain. In a year or two we will be wondering how we managed to get such a fine player so cheap. And unlike the Moroccan superstar at Ibrox, we will actually be selling this one off for over £30m in the future.

Conall McGinty