Arne Engels has divided opinion at Celtic, but there’s no doubt he will command a possible transfer record if he’s sold

For a long time, Arne Engels was a point of discussion on the Trinity Tims podcast.

James, Joe and I spent many episodes being ridiculed for our defence of Engels, and our assertion that he would command a record transfer for the club when the time came for him to leave was also scoffed at.

From day one, we knew there was a player in there.

In reality, anybody with an eye for a player would be able to see that.

In his first season at the club, Engels’ performances were solid, if unspectacular.

But it was always notable when he was missing from our midfield.

We just weren’t as solid as we could be without him.

Where it really came into sharp focus, was during his extended period of injury last season.

Engels was badly missed, and at times our midfield looked toothless without him.

After his return from injury in early April in time for the final stretch of last season, Celtic were a different animal.

And it really showed.

After our 22nd of March defeat to Dundee United, Celtic did not suffer another defeat en-route to the League title for the remainder of the season.

Am I saying that this was down to Arne Engels return not long after?

No, but his return definitely helped to solidify our midfield.

He injected the kind of steel into it that just wasn’t there prior to that.

I get that Engels divides opinion at the club, and some fans have never really taken to him.

But you cannot deny that he goes about his business in the midfield engine room quietly and efficiently.

Let’s face it, Nottingham Forest saw it.

They would not have tabled a bid of £25 million for him last January if they hadn’t.

This was not a fantasy bid, it was real.

Unlike the made up figures we see, week in week, out over at Ibrox.

Funnily enough, the Record are today praising the Celtic board for rejecting Nottingham Forest’s £25 million bid for Arne Engels last January.

Ryan McDonald states that the board deserves credit for turning down three bids for Engels during January.

As I alluded to earlier, Engels divides opinion at Celtic.

Many fans questioned why the board didn’t jump at the opportunity to secure £25 million for the Belgian player.

It’s not as if they don’t have previous for jumping at offers like that.

But to state that they deserve credit for rejecting those bids?

That’s taking it a bit too far.

The Celtic board didn’t sell Arne Engels because they knew it would send an already volatile support into meltdown.

Granted, there were fans who thought they should have let him go for such a good offer.

But the majority – who understood what Engels meant to our chances of winning the title – would have been raging.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, £25 million would have been great business for Engels.

But as we’re well aware, not a single penny of it would have been re-invested in the squad.

We know the board did not spend a penny in the January transfer window.

If they sold Engels in the last knockings of that window, the squad would not have benefitted from it in any way.

We would have been left with a huge hole in our midfield.

Even those Celtic fans who didn’t rate Engels would have been enraged simply because another £25 million would have gone into the club’s coffers.

To be left untouched, with a chunk of it going to corporation tax.

Ryan McDonald of the Record thinks they deserve praise for that:

For all the stinging flak directed at the board over some of their shambolic transfer dealings in recent years, they do deserve credit for resisting January’s advances and keeping Engels on board for the defining months of the campaign.

Although he was sidelined for 10 games with an untimely thigh injury between February and April, the playmaker’s return provided a major boost in the middle of the park.

Alongside Callum McGregor and Ben Nygren, Engels helped drive Celtic to seven league victories on the bounce as Martin O’Neill’s side surged to the most dramatic Premiership title and Scottish Cup Double.

They don’t deserve any credit.

The board knew selling Engels would have driven the support over the edge.

That in tandem with our pathetic January transfer window, would have resulted in us conceding the title.

I firmly believe that if we didn’t have Arne Engels for the run in last season, we would not have won the double.

He played a pivotal role in that success.

In the end, Arne Engels more than proved his worth, and if he does go in this summer’s window, he will definitely command a Scottish record fee.

I’ll take great satisfaction from that.

Simply because I was ridiculed for stating that belief not long after he first joined Celtic.

But I will never give our board any credit for orchestrating that.

Martin O’Neill extracted the best out of Arne Engels.

If he leaves Celtic for a record fee, then Martin O’Neill is the man who deserves the most credit for that.

And Martin O’Neill should be given every penny of that transfer to re-invest in his rebuild.

No questions asked.

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