Negotiations continue 

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Celtic are in the final stages of signing FC Augsburg midfielder Arne Engels. Several reports in Scotland and Germany indicated that the Scottish giants have reached an agreement to sign the 20-year-old central midfielder. Reports in Germany suggest a transfer fee of €13m plus a 20% sell on clause. 

The Bundesliga club was always clear in their stance that they were only willing to listen to offers above the player’s current market value of €9m. Augsburg initially wanted a transfer fee of around €15m but the initial fee of €13m plus the future sell-on fee got the deal across the line. A deal in that category would be among the club’s record sales. It would also be a significant profit as the Bundesliga club bought Engels for just €100,000 from Brugge one year ago. Indeed, Engels will become Augsburg’s fourth most expensive outgoing player in club history (overview).

For Celtic, too, a transfer fee in that region would be historic. The club managed by Brendan Rodgers have paid more than €10m for a player just twice in club history. The current transfer record is held by the Portuguese winger Jota. Signed for an initial £6.4 (around €7m) from Benfica in 2022, the fee grew to €16.2m thanks to a sell-on clause in his contract. Once the transfer is concluded, Engels will rank second among Celtic’s club record transfers. 

From Augsburg: Engels ready to replace O’Riley? 

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has made it clear that he wanted to add another player. “The team is in a good place, mentally, tactically, how they’re playing,” Rodgers said after his side’s 3-0 win over St. Mirren on the weekend. “But we want to strengthen and have that depth. It’s taken a lot longer than I would have liked as the football manager. That’s my brutally honest answer on it. But I will repeat this. If we get them in, then there’s still a long season ahead. So, it’s important that we do get that. And I have belief that we will do.”

The urge to do something on the market has been even further accelerated after Celtic sold O’Riley to Brighton for a Scottish transfer record fee on Monday. But replacing O’Riley could be a tall order for Engels, who has managed three goals and five assists in 32 Bundesliga games last season. In comparison, O’Riley managed 19 goals and 18 assists in 49 appearances for Celitc. Although a massive talent, Engels is still a bit of a project and will need time to match that sort of production. 

Managing expectations is, therefore, important as Celtic close in on signing Engels. But beyond the actual goal production, the underlying stats highlight why Celtic are interested in the Belgian midfielder. When comparing the two players on Wyscout, Engels only slightly trends behind O’Riley in key metrics for a central midfielder. For example, over the last calendar year, O’Riley completed 70.24% of his forward passes, compared to Engels, who completed 67.47%. Where O’Riley made 0.78 key passes per 90, Engels managed 0.48. The metrics also read similarly for recoveries and passes to the final third. Indeed, the marginal difference can be explained by the fact that O’Riley played for a more dominant team in the Scottish Premiership than is the case for Engels with Augsburg in the Bundesliga.