ARNE ENGELS: CELTIC'S TITLE TRUMP CARD
- By LIAM McBRIDE
- May 13
- 6 min read
ACSOM'S Liam McBride looks at the often overlooked contribution Arne Engels has made to the huge turn around in Celtic's fortunes over the past few weeks.
When Celtic sold Matt O’Riley on the 26th August 2024 for a fee in the range of £25 million, it was always going to be a tough ask for anyone to come in and complete a seamless transition. The young Dane had just enjoyed an incredible season, with 18 goals and 13 assists across 37 premiership appearances. Just 23 years old he already seemed the full package and to put it simply, was such a high level of midfielder that the Bhoys were always going to struggle to hold on to him.
Nevertheless, football has a cyclical nature and by now, Celtic fans are used to seeing their coveted stars moving on to bigger leagues to progress their career. It’s part of the attraction of coming to the club in the first place. So, four days before deadline day, the focus turned to potential replacements.
The most likely seemed to be Mateusz Bogusz. Reports stated that the young Polish attacking midfielder was in advanced talks to join the Hoops for a £8 million deal. With 16 goals and six assists across 32 games, the prospect was a popular one, ahead of the birth of a new Champions league format.
Arne Engels: Celtic's Most Expensive Player Now Shows His True Worth
Moreover, reports were also surfacing that the Champions were vying for young Bundesliga prospect Arne Engels for a price of around £8-£9 million. The Augsburg holding midfielder played 33 games the previous season and was attracting interest after being called up for the Belgian senior squad. Alongside Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and an in form Paulo Bernardo, potential big money deals were a promising sign for the midfield in the following campaign.
Yet, transfer windows are never simple, certainly not at Celtic. Bogusz’s move fell through and all of a sudden, the Scottish Champions were scrambling to find an attacking replacement. Deadline day arrived and still no one entered the building.
With Celtic leaving their business so late, they were forced to pay a little more than initially expected for Engels. The club forked out a record fee of £11 million for his services and also included Luke McCowan on a hectic final day on the weekend of the first Glasgow derby.
Engels had experience playing at right back and in a double pivot of a 4-2-3-1. From a stylistic point of view, McCowan was the most natural replacement to O’Riley, with the former Dundee man proving a consistent goal threat in the final third before his move. Naturally, though, with the club-record transfer fee plagued to his name, that burden fell rightly or wrongly to Engels.
Brendan Rodgers spoke about “releasing the shackles” and turning him into an attacking outlet. With hindsight, it was a silly idea. Engels skillset just doesn’t suit this style of play. Yet, this came a season after Rodgers improved O’Riley’s goal tally from four goals in 52 games to 19 in 49. So, perhaps naively, he thought he could repeat the trick.
Anyhow, Engel's first season in the Hoops was largely underwhelming. On the domestic front, he never truly morphed into that O’Riley-style figure. While he did manage ten goals, eight of them were penalties. More to the point, the overall performance levels were clunky. Still just twenty years old, he looked raw and nowhere near the quality of player who left for the Seagulls.
His ability to take the ball in tight spaces was nonexistent, nullifying his effectiveness against low blocks. Simply put, the £11 million price tag seemed a major overpayment.
Yet, there was a bit of a conundrum. Even throughout his first campaign, the signs of the type of player he could become were there. In Champions League performances against Slovan Bratislava, RB Leipzig, Aston Villa and Bayern Munich, he was outstanding. In naturally more open games, he could show off his passing range and was forced less to play in tight spaces. So there was clearly an element of his skill set being more suited to the task.
However, from a tactical point of view, Celtic set up in those games differently, particularly in away trips to Villa Park and the Allianz, where 4-2-3-1 set-ups were employed.
Playing as a defensive midfielder in a partnership, the exact same role he played in the Bundesliga during his Augsburg days, he flourished. While Nicolas Kuhn grabbed the headlines for his composed finish, Engels was the best player on the park for Celtic. His consistent passing, shielding and off-the-ball work allowed the midfield to battle against Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka and Jamal Musiala.
The Belgian was never meant to be the O’Riley replacement and showed his best moments when he was played in his natural position.
Nevertheless, by the time the new season came around, Brendan Rodgers had already given up on any hopes of Engels being the first-team answer. New man Benjamin Nyrgen signed from FC Nordsjaelland for a fee of £2 million with a prolific goalscoring record behind him. Straight away, he fitted in, scoring 3 goals in his first 4 league games.
Engels was stuck on the bench and it later transpired that he challenged the Northern Irishman over the lack of gametime he was receiving.
“If you don’t really get a big chance to be back in the team and to show what you actually can contribute to the team, then it’s always frustrating. Obviously, you go and ask why you’re not playing. If you played a lot of important games last season, then you’re going to go up to the manager and then ask for reasons. We spoke about it and we had really good chats. He gave his clear opinion and it was up to me to just get on with it and work hard for myself and work hard for the team.”
Since then, two Martin O’Neill spells and a brief Wilfried Nancy tenure have happened. And throughout his gametime under O’Neill, Engels has finally flourished and brought the level of game that many were expecting when he walked through the door two years ago. So much so that a £25 million bid was rejected from Nottingham Forrest in January and the likelihood is that with a similar offer arriving in the Summer, he will be off.
So, why has he finally reached the longed-for heights? Firstly, he is older. For a player of his style, nearly two years of physical development play a massive role. Compared to the man who took to the park for the first time on the 1st of September 2024, he is visibly a stronger and more powerful athlete. This allows him to be the off-the-ball force that he showed on Sunday.
However, there is also the simple element of tactical instructions. O’Neill loves players like Engels. Clearly, he has been given the role of embracing the physical side of the game and doing the dirty work. In possession, he isn’t being asked to play an advanced position in the midfield; with Nygren further in front, he is playing a more box-to-box role.
This brings the best out in him. Older, stronger and faster, he has evolved away from a defensive midfielder. Just not to the attacking force that was tried. Instead, he has become the old-fashioned, non-flashy that this team needs.
And it’s these legs, along with the return of Alistair Johnson and a fully-firing Daizen Maeda that have propelled Celtic straight back into this title race.
This remains the worst Celtic side that we have seen since Ronny Deila’s days, and a euphoric Derby Day doesn’t change that. Nevertheless, the increased physicality, running power and sheer will of the players on display now make the Hoops favourites to make it five in a row for the first time in this race.
The stats don’t lie. In the 16 domestic games that Engels has played, O’Neill’s team have won 15 and drawn one. In the six he missed, it’s been three wins, a draw and two losses.
On Sunday afternoon, all this came to a wonderful crescendo. McGregor, Engels, Johnson, Tierney and Maeda ran their hearts out, won every second ball and ultimately secured a priceless victory.
The £11 million tag has been questioned throughout and fairly so, but in this run to the end of the season, in what is most likely the twilight period of his Cetlic career, he has shown his worth and it’s likely he will make the Champions an overall profit upwards of £10 million with Lazio, RB Leipzig and Nottingham Forrest all showing interest.
With two games left to play, the ball is in Celtic’s court. Two wins, however they manage it, would secure a historic and unlikely title in the most unusual of seasons.