Arne Engels has been unfortunate at Celtic because of his price tag.
It wasn’t Engels’ fault that Celtic paid a club-record transfer of £11 million to Augsburg in 2024 because he has been judged heavily by it since.
Engels has been a regular in the middle of the park, but there are suggestions that he isn’t good enough or hasn’t produced the high-level performances required.
All of this coincides with RB Leipzig showing interest in Engels, and whether or not the Hoops should cash in on their marmite-like midfielder.
Can Celtic afford to sell Arne Engels?
Should Celtic sell Arne Engels?
James McFadden made it clear that, if Leipzig put ‘£11 million’ on the table for Engels, then he would let him go.
Speaking on Open Goal, McFadden thinks Celtic can’t just sell him without a replacement, as they did with Kyogo Furuhashi last season.
He feels that the champions of Scotland need to have a replacement ‘ready’, then he thinks it would be right to allow Engels to leave.
Paul Slane: “I have seen a report that Leipzig are looking at Engels. Would you sell him? In this window.”
McFadden: “For how much?”
Slane: “I think similar to what they paid for him.”
Gordon Dalziel: “I like him. I think he is decent. I really do. When he came at first, I thought, you will be real top quality. I thought Brendan Rodgers would still be there, to be fair.
“Would you take £11 million for him right now?”
McFadden: “I probably would.”
Dalziel: “I agree with you. I think the boy is a really good talent. But I don’t think he is going to be a big profit one for you. I don’t think he is going to be that £20 million in years to come. He could be.”
McFadden: “I would take it. But I wouldn’t just sell him and go, ‘right, we will try to get a replacement.’ Like you did with Kyogo last season. I would take it. But you need somebody ready to come in.”
Is the Celtic midfield too one-dimensional?
Engels’ Celtic career in numbers
There have been signs of promise from Engels, and he is just 22 years old, so he is still in his development stage.
But you can only develop so much at a club like Celtic. As it stands, Celtic won’t be champions in May, and if that happens, then the fans will be baying for blood.
Engels’ career has been healthy, but not strong enough to fight off the critics.
- Games: 87
- Starts: 61
- Goals: 14
- Assists: 19
- Total minutes: 5,589
- Trophies: 2
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