One of the great things Brendan Rodgers has done over his two spells as Celtic manager is take the game of certain players to serious heights.
Quite a lot of his success stories have been the attacking players, from the likes of Moussa Dembele, Scott Sinclair and James Forrest in his first spell.
And now with the likes of PFA Player of the Year Daizen Maeda and 2024 summer departee Matt O’Riley, although some of the players in Rodgers’ second spell at Celtic Park have been slow burners.
One of them is Celtic’s club-record transfer Arne Engels.
Arne Engels’ slow progression at Celtic
Engels had a steady debut campaign last term, with critics wanting more; however, you feel that much of this is due to the price tag over his head.
Nonetheless, the Belgian’s situation was discussed on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, including how the Celtic board feel Engels ‘hasn’t hit the heights’ many would have liked.
However, Cammy Bell stated, from the perspective of the board, there is still the hope that the 22-year-old will become a ‘£25 million player.’
“It certainly plays a part in the board’s minds (certain big transfers not working out so far, such as departed Idah, Engels and Trusty),” responded Bell.
“How much? I am unsure. I certainly think they will look at it and say, ‘these guys haven’t done what we expected them to do.’
“When the board are bringing in these types of players, certainly Engels is one that I will identify, they will think, ‘he will go onto the next level and potentially be a £25 million two or three years down the line, which they would sell on.’
“It’s not happened for him yet. It still might be. He is still a good player. But he hasn’t hit the heights yet that they are expecting.”
Engels’ stats at Celtic
The issue for Engels during the opening month of the new season is that new signing Benjamin Nygren has come in and taken his place.
He needs to win that back, as soon as possible, because the noise and pressure at Celtic is relentless.
Yes, it’s okay to want more from Engels, but he is still young and has a contract until 2028; there are signs that something is there.
- Engels’ games for Celtic: 59
- Goals: 10
- Assists: 14
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