Celtic had a transfer deadline day job on their hands as they rebuffed numerous bids for Arne Engels from Nottingham Forest.
Engels was highly sought-after in January, with RB Leipzig first showing interest in the Celtic star midway through the transfer window.
However Nottingham Forest were first to test Celtic’s resolve with a £14m bid before deadline day, but the Parkhead club booted that out.
Can Celtic afford to sell Arne Engels?
Forest then returned to Celtic with a £17.3m offer early on transfer deadline day, but the Parkhead hierarchy immediately rejected it with a firm ‘not for sale’ message.
That didn’t deter the Premier League side as Forest slapped Celtic with a £25m offer, and with just hours to go, the message was clear. Engels was going nowhere.
Alex Rae, in his infinite wisdom, decided to have his say on the Celtic transfer drama as the former Rangers coach made a spurious accusation that Forest made the bids simply out of ‘desperation’.
Alex Rae says £25m Forest bid for Arne Engels was ‘desperation’
Celtic fans will be pleased to keep Engels to help the title push until the end of the season, but it seems the multi-million pound bids appear to have irked Rae somewhat.
Rae said on Superscoreboard, “I think it was a desperation from Nottingham Forest, the fact that they went from £14m to £25m with add-ons.
“It’s desperation because they need to get a player in, and then obviously they tried to push the bar, and they [Celtic] haven’t swallowed it.
“I thought directly after the game at the weekend when Martin O’Neill said I hope it’s been rebuffed, I thought it’d be very difficult for that Celtic board, whoever the man is, to not take that dough and say I’m selling him.
“In an ideal world, you would have punted him. It’s massive money for a player who hasn’t torn it up, but he’s obviously doing something right because he’s on the radar of a Premier League team.”
This narrative that Engels has somehow been underwhelming since joining Celtic is tiresome, but expected from the likes of Rae.
Nottingham Forest expert says Alex Rae ‘hasn’t a clue’ about bid for Celtic’s Engels
To get more clarity on the Premier League strugglers’ motives for their aggressive transfer pursuit of Engels, 67 Hail Hail contacted Nottingham Forest News’ Lee Clarke to ask his view on why the Belgian was so highly sought after.
When told Rae claimed Forest’s move was made out of ‘desperation’, Clarke said, “Hasn’t a clue. So we offloaded Douglas Luiz – he was recalled by Juve before joining Villa on loan.
“Our only central midfielder on the bench in recent weeks has been Ryan Yates who many believe isn’t really good enough to be a regular Premier League starter.
“Dominguez is largely playing out wide, Sangare has had two bad injuries since coming to the club and Anderson has played every minute of every game for last two seasons pretty much.
“All that considered it’s no surprise we went for another midfielder.”
It’s also no surprise that Rae’s comments have been booted into touch because Celtic fans know, as does Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche, that Engels is quality and people like Rae are best ignored.
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