Martin O’Neill has sent a clear message to Nottingham Forest regarding Arne Engels:
Celtic will not be selling the midfielder… unless an extraordinary bid comes in.
Forest have already bid for Engels, with an offer reportedly worth £14 million. This has already been rejected by the club.
But does he have a price? The timing for a sale couldn’t be worse for Celtic, who are in the middle of a three-way title-race.
After Celtic’s 2-0 win over Falkirk, the Parkhead boss was questioned on the talk around Engels.
Can Celtic afford to sell Arne Engels?
Martin O’Neill on Nottingham Forest interest in Celtic’s Arne Engels
Engels has hit form since O’Neill’s return, establishing himself as a member of his first-choice starting eleven.
If Celtic were to sell him on the very last day of the January transfer window, it would… not go down well.
READ MORE: Joel Mvuka Celtic fee revealed as Martin O’Neill nears permanent addition
Speaking after the game, O’Neill was his typically blunt self when asked about the 22-year-old midfielder.
Firstly, on whether he would want to keep Engels, O’Neill said: “Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I didn’t hear that but I would, yeah, no question about it.”
Then asked about the bid in particular replied: “Honestly, I’m telling you, I didn’t know a thing about it.
“If they’d done it, then they must have done it during the game. No, no, no, seriously. No, seriously, because I didn’t know a thing about it.
“And I’d want it rebuffed, unless it was £100 million. And then I think the board would step in then.”
On departures in general, the Hoops boss went on: “There are one or two of the lads here who have not played much football and I can understand frustrations of that there.
“I know that and if we can get some people in, I don’t mind some players maybe going on loan or something I guess, who haven’t played and desperately want to play and it’s alright having a cause here like anything else.
“If you’re not playing there’s a natural frustration for it so we’ll see what develops, but obviously I’m not talking about Arne, I’m just talking in general – but if nothing does develop over the next 24 hours then I really would rather keep the players because we will need them.
“They might not see that at this minute, but if we stay in competitions, if we do, and that’s a big if, then we will need them.”
What state is Celtic’s midfield in? Who needs to stay and who needs to go?
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