One of Celtic’s strongest areas of the pitch is the middle of the park.
That’s even after Celtic lost Matt O’Riley to Brighton in the summer after he was the best performing player in Scotland last season.
One of the reasons why Brendan Rodgers has been able to keep that midfield ticking and even taking it to another level is because of the club’s recruitment.
In the summer, Celtic signed Arne Engels for a club-record transfer fee and they also added boyhood fan, Luke McCowan to the ranks from Dundee.
The duo have made a positive impact on life in Glasgow, with Engels being the regular starter, alongside captain Callum McGregor and Japan star, Reo Hatate.
On the other hand, McCowan has mainly played from the bench, including at the weekend when Celtic beat Hibernian in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
With the Bhoys 1-0 up, McCowan linked up very well with Adam Idah for his goal and sealed the club’s passage into the semi-final.
But who has had a better season between Engels and McCowan?
Celtic told Arne Engels treated differently to Luke McCowan
Given that Engels came in for a club-record transfer and McCowan for very little, then they are going to be viewed in a different manner by the fans and the media.
But Ross McCormack feels that the Belgian star is being portrayed ‘way better than he is’ by the club itself because of the amount of money spent on his talents.
This is despite McCormack feeling that McCowan is having a ‘far greater impact’ than the man signed from Augsburg, as he told Open Goal.
“I think, with Engels, the football club can play a big part, in terms of if Engels has a half-decent game or whatever,” said McCormack. “Then, the club can portray that he has actually been way better than he is.
“I think they are doing that because they paid so much money for him. You can’t tell me that Engels is having a far greater impact than McCowan, in terms of what he does when he comes off the bench. Numbers wise.
“But McCowan isn’t getting that recognition, whereas the club and the supporters, we see Engels do one good thing and it’s like ‘oh, he is unbelievable’, because they paid £11 million for him.
“There haven’t been many games this season where I have seen Celtic play and McCowan comes on, and Celtic haven’t gone up half a notch. I think he has had a big, big impact.
“I think when he starts games, he is a little bit more anonymous, but when he comes off the bench, then he always has an impact.”
Engels and McCowan’s stats for Celtic this season
The advantage McCowan has over Engels is the fact that he has already tasted Premiership football for many years before moving to Celtic Park.
But, in terms of the numbers, there isn’t much difference in how WhoScored have rated their performances.
| Tournament (Engels) | Apps | Mins | Goals | Assists | MotM | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premiership | 17(9) | 1503 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 7.07 |
| Champions League | 9(1) | 729 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6.68 |
| Tournament (McCowan) | Apps | Mins | Goals | Assists | MotM | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premiership | 11(14) | 1033 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6.88 |
| Champions League | 0(3) | 49 | – | – | – | 6.07 |
The only shame with McCowan is that he played very little in the Champions League, despite being available for all of those games.
Perhaps next season, not only will those minutes increase, but also his levels, alongside Engels.
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