Augsburg of the Bundesliga’s Arne Engels is reportedly a target for Celtic.
It’s hard to picture a 20-year-old midfielder being needed right now, but it’s very likely that Matt O’Riley will be moving before the transfer season shuts.
Paul Bernardo would be the clear choice to take his position, with Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate appearing in rather different capacities.
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.
With 50 appearances, Engels has a respectable amount of experience for a 20-year-old.
With Adam Idah apparently close to joining Celtic from Norwich transfer speculation has dried up but Ronan Murphy of Football Transfers reports:
Since joining the Bundesliga in January 2023, the 20-year-old has played a range of positions. During the 2023–24 season, he even played as a winger after starting out as a defensive midfielder.
Domenico Tedesco, the manager of Belgium, noticed Engels’ 50 Bundesliga appearances and summoned him up to train with the national team ahead of Euro 2024.
Celtic is well aware of Engels’ abilities; during the previous season, Augsburg finished 11th in the German top division thanks in large part to his adaptability.
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.
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.
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