Neil Lennon on what you ‘wouldn’t have said’ about Arne Engels two months ago as Celtic beat Aberdeen

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Arne Engels joined Celtic in the summer with huge pressure on his shoulders.

It’s difficult enough to play and perform for a club the size of Celtic, but then to have the huge spotlight of being the club’s record-signing doesn’t help matters.

You also need to factor in the fact that Matt O’Riley had left for Brighton – and he was the best player in Scotland last season – as that money was used to bring in players like Engels.

Naturally, fans start to expect more of that player, and even sometimes, become impatient with them because of the price tag.

But, so far, Engels has dealt with it all very well and he proved that against Aberdeen on Tuesday night.

Neil Lennon says Arne Engels is now a ‘big player’ for Celtic after 5-1 win over Aberdeen

After Celtic’s loss to Hibernian over the weekend, a man like Engels could have easily lost his place in the XI, but Rodgers stuck by the Belgium star.

It worked a treat because Celtic were 3-0 up by the half-time break and Engels had two assists to his name.

Neil Lennon loved his ‘lung-busting’ run and then unselfish pass from inside the penalty box that allowed Jota to score.

Lennon explained how the 21-year-old has now become a ‘big player’ for the Hoops and that’s something ‘you wouldn’t have said two months ago’, as he told Sky Sports Football (25/02/25 at 10:05 pm).

“We have seen all the attributes that he has got now,” said Lennon. “I felt early on in the season, he was struggling with the tightness. Taking the ball in tight areas.

“Now, we are really seeing him flourish. I thought he was terrific against Aberdeen. I thought he was great against Bayern Munich in both games.

“He had a little bit of a slow burner, obviously. But against Aberdeen, he has really shown his quality. Not only running with the ball, his actual play in general. I thought he was terrific for the season goal. A lung-busting run and he still has the composure to play it back to Jota.

“But his all-round game is coming on. He is a big player now for Celtic, which you wouldn’t have said two or three months ago.”

Engels’ ratings for Celtic in 2025

From Champions League games to Premiership action, Engels has been involved and started it all, including those two games against Munich.

WhoScored have rated his performances throughout and his highest rating has been 9.32. Here is how Engels has performed (starts only) since the turn of the year:

Nicolas Kuhn has proven this in Celtic colours, as did someone like Matt O’Riley, you don’t probably see the absolute best from these players until the following campaign.

And the sprinkle of magic Engels has shown should make the Celtic Park faithful very excited about what he will bring to the table in 12 months.