Celtic have been credited with interest in signing Arne Engels from Bundesliga side Augsburg.
At this moment is seems difficult to see the need for a 20-year-old midfielder but with the strong likelihood that Matt O’Riley will be on the move before the transfer window closes.
Paul Bernardo would be the obvious replacement with Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate playing in slightly altered roles.
Bosun Lawal and Kwon Hyeok-kyu have moved out this week but Brendan Rodgers still has Odin Thiago Holm and Tomoki Iwata to call into his side.
For a 20-year-old Engels has already gained good experience with 50 appearances.
With Adam Idah apparently close to joining Celtic from Norwich transfer speculation has dried up but Ronan Murphy of Football Transfers reports:
The 20-year-old has played in a variety of positions since arriving in the Bundesliga in January 2023, initially playing as a defensive midfielder and then playing more advanced and even as a winger during the 2023-24 season.
Engels’ 50 games in the Bundesliga attracted the attention of Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco, who brought the midfielder up to train with the national squad ahead of Euro 2024.
Celtic have also been aware of Engels’ talents, with his versatility making him one of the standout performers for Augsburg as they finished 11th in the German top flight last season.
The Bavarian club will definitely look to cash in on one of their prized assets, especially after his impressive rise in Expected Transfer Value which now puts his ETV range between €7.1m and €11.9m.
The sale of the midfielder would be a big coup for Augsburg, who have only sold five players for double-figure millions in their history, three of which were in the last two summers, including USMNT international Ricardo Pepi to PSV Eindhoven for €11m and Bosnian striker Ermedin Demirovic to fellow Bundesliga side Stuttgart this summer.
With just over two weeks left in the transfer window Celtic fans will be expecting a focus on first team ready signings rather than a 20-year-old that will inevitably viewed as another project.
A left-back to cover for or compete with Greg Taylor ought to be the priority while a left sided central defender in the mould of Cameron Carter Vickers would be very welcome.
Celtic have actually moved on a large number of players in the last few weeks with Sead Haksabanovic, Oh Hyeon-gyu, Bosun Lawal, Ben Siegrist and Kwon moving on but there could be as many as eight more fringe players leaving the club.
Summer 2023 signings lead the way with Gus Lagerbielke, Maik Nawrocki, Luis Palma and Yang Hyun-jun all look to have their work cut out to get into the Starting XI while others such as Mikey Johnston, Adam Montgomery, Yuki Kobayashi and Liam Shaw could be on the move.
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