A number of clubs across Europe have Hoops man on their radar
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Celtic midfielder Arne Engels is ‘high’ on Tottenham Hotspur’s list of transfer targets among others as Nottingham Forest table a ‘formal offer’.
The 22-year old was the subject of multiple rejected bids from Nottingham Forest in January, with the highest reaching £25m. The Reds interest has continued into the summer as well as fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace. In recent weeks, Spurs and Fulham have joined the list of English clubs after Engels. European giants Roma, Atletico Madrid and Villareal have also been linked.
With so many potential suitors for the Belgian, O’Neill is well aware that the club will find it hard keeping him in the building. In a recent interview at their warm weather training camp in Spain he explained that Forest were too late with their offers in January, which all came towards the tail end of the window.
Spurs join race for Engels as Forest table offer
According to Belgian media outlet Voetbalkrant, The Reds have reportedly now tabled a first ‘formal offer’ which Celtic will have plenty of time to mull over. After midfielder Elliot Anderson transferred to Man City for £120m, new manager Oliver Glasner now has plenty of financial resources at his disposal to pursue Engels.
The same report claims: “The 22-year-old Engels is highly regarded in England following the top season he played with Scottish club Celtic Glasgow. At Forest, who are pushing hard for him, he could become the replacement for Elliot Anderson. Tottenham, Fulham, AS Roma and Atlético Madrid , among others, also have Arne Engels high on their list. AS Roma is reportedly planning to place a bid for the player, while Villarreal has even emerged as an additional contender. As a result, the number of teams showing interest in Engels has long since exceeded one hand.”
The Lilywhites have had a busy summer already under new boss Roberto De Zerbi, having already signed Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Jan Paul van Hecke for a combined total of over £230m. They also enlisted former Hoops transfer target Andy Robertson on a free from Liverpool.
O’Neill resigned to Engels exit
The rumoured fee of £25m plus Celtic are asking for Engels would be the highest ever fee for an outgoing Hoops transfer. Since signing from Augsburg in 2024 the midfielder has at times struggled with consistency, but proved his worth towards the title race run-in last season, when he helped Celtic secure the domestic double with important goals against Hearts in the Premiership decider and against Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Cup.
O’Neill has always been an admirer of Engels, which is part of the reason the Forest bids were rejected earlier this year. However now he has no such hope that he’ll stay. He told The Scottish Sun: “I would imagine so, yeah. At this minute I don’t think anything has happened.
“Where it carries on up towards the end of the window then suddenly something happens you’re not ready because it’s happening too late. All those bids Nottingham Forest made came in on the 11th hour so that was just a non-goer for us at that particular stage. Then he got injured just after that. So if some things can happen a bit earlier then maybe there’s some resignation on my part there too.”
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