He'd take Engels to the next level: Celtic expected to move for £10m star
da bet nacional： The summer transfer window officially opens for business next month and full focus will now be on that for Celtic after the 2024/25 campaign came to an end on Saturday.
da jogodeouro： Brendan Rodgers will surely have been disappointed by his side’s failure to clinch the domestic treble after they lost to Aberdeen on penalties in the final of the SFA Cup.
The Scottish giants had already secured the Scottish Premiership title, for the fourth time in as many seasons, and won the League Cup by beating Rangers on penalties in the first half of the campaign.
Celtic also made it through to the play-off round of the Champions League, losing to Bayern Munich, after making it through the initial league phase.
The Hoops enjoyed a successful season, in spite of their SFA Cup final defeat to Aberdeen, and it came off the back of significant investment in the team last summer.
Celtic showed that they are willing to splash the cash to improve the side and compete in Europe by signing Augsburg central midfielder Arne Engels for a club-record fee.
Why Arne Engels has been worth the money
The Glasgow giants reportedly broke their club transfer record to sign the Belgian starlet from the Bundesliga outfit for a staggering fee of £11m.
It was a huge sum of money to play for a then-20-year-old midfield maestro, yet it has turned out to be money well spent so far because he has delivered impressive performances on the pitch for the Hoops.
Engels ended the season with a return of ten goals and 13 assists in 52 appearances in all competitions, which shows that he provided quality as both a scorer and a creator of goals in the middle of the park.
Celtic have dominated Scottish football, winning the last four titles and three of the last five domestic cups available to them, so any signings coming in should be with a view to improving their form in the Champions League.
24/25 Champions League
Arne Engels
Appearances
10
Goals
1
Big chances created
3
Assists
3
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.4
Ground duel success rate
59%
Aerial duel success rate
67%
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Engels helped them to do that with his displays in Europe, which led to Celtic reaching the play-off round, having been dumped out with one win in the group stage in the 2023/24 campaign.
The Belgian whiz has been worth the money for the Hoops, so far, because he has delivered quality in the Champions League, including a goal and an assist in the 5-1 win over Slovan during the league phase.
Celtic, however, could take the Belgian talent to the next level by splashing the cash once again to sign a striker to make the most of his creativity next season.
Celtic expected to move for new striker
According to Anthony Joseph, writing for Sky Sports, Celtic are ‘expected’ to make a new move to sign Brondby centre-forward Mathias Kvistgaarden in the upcoming summer transfer window.
The reporter claims that the Denmark youth international has been a long-term target for the Scottish giants, and they are now prepared to make yet another swoop for his services ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
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Joseph adds that the closest the club have come, to date, to signing the 23-year-old star was in the recent January transfer window, after Kyogo Furuhashi left to join Rennes, but they were unable to get a deal over the line.
The journalist states that Brondby have been sticking to their valuation of at least £10m for the attacker, which is slightly less than what the Hoops paid to sign Engels last summer.
This suggests that it is a deal the Premiership champions could afford to do if they feel he is worth splashing the cash on, given that they were prepared to spend big on the Belgium international.
They should, now, sanction a £10m swoop for his services when they make their expected move for the striker because he could take Engels to the next level with his finishing ability.
Why Celtic should sign Mathias Kvistgaarden
The Hoops should splash the cash on Kvistgaarden because of his exceptional form for Brondby in the 2024/25 campaign, which suggests that he could be a lethal forward for Celtic with the creativity that Engels can provide.
In the Premiership, the Belgium international was only rewarded with six assists from the 11 ‘big chances’ that he created for his teammates throughout the season. This shows that the midfielder was let down by the quality of finishing from the club’s forward players in the top-flight.
Adam Idah was one of the wasteful attackers responsible for that. The Ireland international scored 13 goals and missed a whopping 19 ‘big chances’ in the Premiership, whilst he also underperformed his xG of 13.57.
This suggests that Celtic could take Engels to the next level as a creator by signing a striker who can more than make the most of his creativity, which is why they should swoop for Kvistgaarden.
24/25 season
Idah (Premiership)
Kvistgaarden (Superliga)
Appearances
35
29
xG
13.57
13.82
Goals
13
17
Penalty goals
1
0
Chances created
19
19
xA
2.60
2.22
Assists
0
5
Stats via FotMob
As you can see in the table above, the Danish attacker would come in as a big upgrade on Idah because of his finishing quality, having scored five more goals from open play with a similar xG tally at league level.
Kvistgaarden, whose form was dubbed “absolutely sensational” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, is a striker who has the movement and the finishing skills to take Engels’ assist tally way beyond the 13 he got this season.
The 23-year-old striker, who scored 23 goals in all competitions, could thrive on the kind of quality that Engels can provide from a central midfield position, and that could make him a star for the Hoops next term as their regular starter in the number nine position.
It is now down to the board to sanction a £10m deal for the Danish marksman, to both provide Rodgers with a clinical and effective starting centre-forward, whilst also taking Engels to the next level by finding a player who can make the most of his creativity.
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