West Ham are set to test Celtic’s resolve with a third bid for Belgian midfielder Arne Engels after the Championship side has had two bids thrown out by the Scottish Champions…
Third Time Lucky for West Ham?
David Friel at The Scottish Sun reports that the recently relegated English side are looking at being third time lucky as they come back to Celtic will their highest bid so far.
Nottingham Forest’s £25m million bid for Engels in the closing day of the January transfer window sets the benchmark price that Celtic will be looking for and West Ham, who are keen to bring in the Celtic midfielder as soon as possible, will now have to match that earlier bid if they are to get the green light from Celtic for the the transfer.
Engels has other admirers
Engels has other admirers including Roma and perhaps Forest will return to the table as the window progresses. If there is Premier League interest as the window progresses, Engels, who has already agreed personal terms with the Hammers, may opt for that rather than a season in the Championship.
Martin O’Neill in no rush to see Engels or Alistair Johnston leave
The Celtic manager Martin O’Neill is in no rush to sell Engels, or indeed his Celtic teammate Alistair Johnston who is wanted by Everton, as he would like both players to be available for the Champions League playoff round matches against Austrian Champions LASK with the first leg taking place at Celtic Park on Wednesday 19 August with the return leg in Linz six days later on Tuesday 25 August.
West Ham and Everton might have to be patient
Whether West Ham and indeed Everton are prepared to be patient is another matter. However even if they move onto other targets it’s still likely that Celtic will receive bids from elsewhere for two players who have plenty of admirers.
With £40m at stake, together with the possibility of a huge supporter backlash if the club yet again fail to reach the Champions League proper due to failing to act decisively in recruitment and swiftness to see off top talent, Celtic may opt to play the longer game with these two transfers.
Paulo Bernardo the latest to leave Celtic
Martin O’Neill would certainly favour that option, as indeed would the Celtic support, who are desperate to see additions to the squad rather than further sales. And last night Paulo Bernardo left Celtic for a season loan in Poland, meaning that numbers and quality in the middle of the park are now worrying low even before we contemplate the loss or Arne Engels.
On Monday evening the Celtic boss was asked if the club would stand firm in rejecting bids before the crunch £40m play-off against LASK.
“Ideally that would be brilliant,” Martin O’Neill
“Ideally that would be brilliant,” Martin O’Neill said after Celtic’s 1-0 opener to the season against Dundee at Celtic Park.
“That’s one of the things we’ll definitely look at. I seriously could not say for sure. You’d have to take the players’ thoughts into consideration and maybe the other club’s, but for me, selfishly, that would be great.”
There are gaps all over the current Celtic squad, with Greg Taylor expected to arrive as cover for Kieran Tierney at left-back A new goalkeeper is a priority for Martin O’Neill and there are ongoing attempts to bring in Mika Baur from Bundesliga side Paderborn.
Meanwhile in the wide areas Celtic’s pursuit of both Haissem Hassan and Fares Ghedjemis drags on with Celtic still in pole position to sign the latter should the valuation from Italian outfit Frosinone be met.
Ultimately Celtic should be looking at strengthening , not weakening the squad for the Champions League playoff. That is the priority and you have to factor in just how poor our record is in these play-off matches.
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1 Comment
That’s the dilemma now for MoN to consider?
And that is surrounding this CL qualification games.
Do you potentially keep a half hearted AJ and Engels in position now, as only 2 games available to get any potential replacements in?
So many risks involved all round, regarding such a situation imo?
Already know that we won’t replace the quality factor of AJ, with the money factor we operate within, so any potential replacement will take a little time to settle in?
Brings ralston back into the equation, even if MoN seems to prefer Donovan ahead of ralston at present?
So the RB position is still covered as such, despite the outcome upon AJ?
Engels is still our best combination with Calmac, currently available for our team?
Yet I still believe that Engels will be easier to replace more so than AJ, despite the money involved imo?
Always felt Paulo was going to make a better claim for the position, but it never happened for whatever reason?
Hatate has made it known that he is also looking to move on also? So can he really be trusted in such a big game for ourselves now?
This dilemma MoN now finds himself in, was always in the making, so don’t know why we have let it develop to this stage now?
We aren’t going to have a proper 25man European squad in place, before the qualification games come around, especially with only 2 games available to bed in any potential new additions?
Yet there potentially will be numerous changes made to our squad, between the qualification games and the league phase of European competition?
A very strange strategy to be taken, that doesn’t seem to make much sense, especially within our supporters?
So would ask the question, do we really want a CL campaign? because we aren’t acting like a club that really does imo?