James McFadden thinks he knows why Celtic turned down ‘£25m’ for Arne Engels 

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To nobody’s surprise, it was another dramatic January transfer window for Celtic.

Everyone thought the headlines would be who Celtic would or wouldn’t sign during the winter, as Martin O’Neill tried to pick up the mess from their nightmare Wilfried Nancy reign.

But it ended up being about Celtic rejecting £25 million for Engels from Nottingham Forest, as the English Premier League side put in three bids for the midfielder.

In normal circumstances, the champions of Scotland would accept such bids again, and again and again, so why not now?

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Celtic reject £25 million from Nottingham Forest for Arne Engels

James McFadden looked at it from the point of view of what Celtic have brought in during the January transfer window.

Yes, forward players arrived, as well as a centre-back, but all of the incomings were loan deals with options to buy. No permanent transfers.

Speaking on Open Goal, McFadden explained that Celtic ‘haven’t spent any money.’ Then add in how they ‘never replaced’ Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn.

All in all, McFadden thinks the powers that be in the Parkhead boardroom had no choice but to reject such a record-breaking offer for Engels.

“If you look at it from the other point of view, they haven’t spent any money,” said McFadden.

“They haven’t signed a player permanently. They haven’t spent any money. They sell one of their midfielders for £25 million. Still don’t spend any money. It looks terrible. 

“But I think when you go back a year.  Sell Kyogo, never replaced him. Sell Kuhn, never replaced him. Still not replaced Kyogo. Cashed in. 

“And now, they are maybe at a point where they go, ‘Oh my God, what do we do? Cash in, because there is a backlash to that? Keep him because the manager wants to keep him?’

“Personally, I would have taken it. I think £25 million for Engels is unbelievable.” 

The relationship between Celtic fans and the board

What’s interesting is that Engels wasn’t part of Celtic’s squad that faced Dundee and beat them in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

It remains to be seen if the Belgian will be part of the Hoops squad that takes on bottom-club Livingston on Wednesday night.

Either way, McFadden mentioned the broken relationship between the Celtic fans and the board amid these Engels bids.

“The position between the fans and the board, you would think, couldn’t get any worse,” added McFadden. 

“They are thinking, ‘if we sell him, don’t spend a penny. Oh my God.’ So it’s a wee bit of. They feel they can’t sell him.

“The perception for the board isn’t that they would all be happy for you to cash in. Clearly, because they haven’t taken it.

“Maybe they are sitting, ‘Do we go and take it? What’s the reaction going to be?’ Rather than the model has been from Celtic, bring players in and sell them at a profit. You are doubling your money on him, and you haven’t taken it. I am really surprised they haven’t taken it.”