Why Celtic target Arne Engels could replace Matt O'Riley

Indeed, the 20-year-old FC Augsburg FC midfielder has had his name linked with a big-money move to Glasgow and Brendan Rodgers, in line with the constant rumours and reports swirling about Matt O’Riley’s future at the club. Making 51 total appearances for the Bundesliga side, Engels has been tipped to fill the likely void that O’Riley will leave if/when he moves to pastures new – wherever that may be.

In line with this, The Celtic Way’s Ryan McGinlay spoke with former BT Sport and current ESPN and Bundesliga commentator Derek Rae to gauge the Belgium U21 international, as well as what the versatile player would bring to Celtic if he was to be signed by the club this month…

The seemingly everlasting speculation of O’Riley’s move away from Celtic has been constant this summer, with the likes of Brighton, Southampton, Inter Milan, Juventus and most prominently Atalanta all being reportedly linked with the 23-year-old.

Because of this, it makes the link to a player such as Engels fairly unsurprising. Rae – an expert in all things German football – was impressed from the moment he set eyes on the young midfielder. He said: “I remember the first time I watched Engels was at Borussia Dortmund, which would have been around 18 months ago at the beginning of 2023. Augsburg had just signed the player and decided to just throw him into the starting 11. He was a young player who had just signed from Belgium at Club Brugge, and they had determined that he was good enough to play in that game.

“What was immediately clear was that he was very good technically. He is a defensive midfielder but more like your modern defensive midfielder, so not a battering ram but someone whose timing is really important. He is someone whose technical game and fundamentals are at a high level. He acquitted himself very well in that game and at Augsburg in general in his 50 or so appearances at the club.

“With Engels, Celtic would be getting a good all-round player and a player that also takes corners for his current club, as he can deliver a good ball into the box.

“Anybody who is a defensive midfielder who is taking corners tells you that there are aspects to his game that are more than what just your run-of-the-mill central defensive midfield players would typically offer.”

Though O’Riley has played in the ‘number six’ position for Celtic when deputising for his captain Callum McGregor, he is more of an attacking midfielder – a position Engels is not familiar with as of yet. However, the Belgium player’s versatility was noted by Rae, who explained that the rising star can feature in a number of positions when called upon to do so. He said: “Defensive midfield is how Augsburg see Engels generally.”

“He is flexible to play at right-back, though he would never be the first-choice in that position. He can play higher up the pitch on the right, but Augsburg have had other players in those roles ahead of Engels. I believe that his skills are better suited to being in the centre of midfield.

“Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a player that can play in multiple positions – this is modern football, after all!”

With Celtic not entertaining any bids under their speculated valuation of O’Riley at £25 million, the move for Engels would likely be dependent on the Denmark international leaving for a new challenge in a top-five league. Rae was quick to point out that Augsburg would insist on a small fortune for the player who joined them last year from Brugge’s development side. He said: “A reshuffling at Celtic all depends on if the deal happens or not between Augsburg and themselves.

“Augsburg have made an investment on the player, and this is very much their transfer model. They bring in young players and then go on to sell them for a healthy profit. He is the sort of player who would be an interesting solution to a lot of clubs. Augsburg’s main priority season-in-season-out is to stay up in the Bundesliga – and not an awful lot more than that.

“Because of this, they have to make signings creatively concerning younger players and then sell them on. If you’re looking at Engels from a Bundesliga point of view, then he is clearly not a player who is going to stay at Augsburg forever – it is more a matter of where his next move is in footballing terms.

“My answer on a move is ‘we’ll wait and see’.”

A quick look online will point you to Engel’s transfer history – including a peculiar team name in the form of ‘NXT FC’. Further reading will inform you that this is essentially the youth team of Club Brugge, one of the top teams in Belgium – Engel’s first club. Though he did not make a single appearance for the side that developed his game from 2014-2020, he was on the collective shortlists of many clubs - despite not being a household name - according to Rae. He said: “In general terms, he did go under the radar (when he signed for Augsburg).

“However, I was working that day (2023 vs Dortmund) with Hannes Wolf – who is now a very senior figure at the German FA – and he knew all about Engels. Wolf thought it was very interesting that his new team were putting him straight in against Dortmund. When Augsburg scouted the player – who is from very good grounding at Brugge’s second team – they must have seen something that they really liked about the player, which is not unlike the way they usually identify young players.

“He is not a player who is being talked about by the big clubs in Germany, and he is not a player who is getting linked with the teams in the top five or six in the Bundesliga presently. Perhaps that can change in the years ahead. It makes a bit of sense that Engels is attracting a team like Celtic who are the champions and have the lure of the Champions League football for a player. Perhaps it would be a better fit at Celtic rather than the higher Bundesliga teams, as he would not get many games for the high-end German clubs at this moment in time.

“I think it will be very interesting to see where Engels ends up as a footballer, and I believe a lot of Augsburg fans feel the same about him, too. He’s highly thought of by people who watch the Bundesliga closely.”

At the time of writing, Engels has 10 caps for Belgium’s U21 squad, scoring twice in the process. With the ‘Red Devils’ coming to the end of their ‘golden generation’, there is an opportunity for the player to make the breakthrough to the senior squad. Indeed, he was named in the provisional squad for Euro 2024 in Germany but failed to make the final cut under Domenico Tedesco.

Rae believes that the current turnover of players in the Belgium national team provides him with a great opportunity to make the grade internationally. He said: “Engels is someone that Belgium will have to have a look at (for the future).

“As you will know, the national team have been going through a bit of a ‘changing of the guard’ recently – the ‘Eden Hazard-era’ is very much over. I think it stands to reason that they will be looking to rebuild themselves with more of Engels’ age group. I think it is only a matter of time before he makes that step up – he was close on that front already thinking back to the Euros. He is going to feature for Belgium, there’s no doubt about that.

“Celtic would be getting a player with a lot of upside and with the ability to continuously improve year-on-year.”

Admittedly, all of the chatter surrounding Engels’ proposed move to the Scottish champions has gone momentarily quiet, coinciding with O’Riley’s Atalanta switch being effectively dead in the water, due to the Serie A team shopping elsewhere for midfield reinforcements this summer. Signing Lazar Samardzic from fellow Italian club Udinese, it would appear that O’Riley’s main suitors have now pulled out, which in turn puts a spanner in the works of any deal for Engels to Celtic. With Brighton back in the mix, however, this speculation may intensify once again.

Rae admitted that the links speculating the Belgium midfielder to Celtic were largely from the one area – that of Scottish media. He said: “The news that I have seen from this potential deal has been coming much more from the Scottish or UK side of things.

“That is not to say that they are not without merit – they may very well be spot-on. I should also underline that Augsburg are not one of the big clubs in Germany and that the area is ‘sleepy’ in comparison to other areas in the country when it comes to football. However, this is still a story to keep an eye on in the hours and days ahead, as we are moving ever closer to the end of the transfer window.

“Augsburg are the sort of club where if the right player comes in for a player like Engels, then they’re not going to turn it down. For Celtic, it would be a hefty sum concerning transfer fee, and it would take them into their record-signing range.”

There seems to be no doubt that this would be an astute signing for Rodgers’ side, especially with the prospect of Champions League football firmly on the horizon for Celtic. The question remains: Would this be a good move for Engels?

For Rae, he took a balanced approach on a move to Scotland for the Belgium U21 stalwart. He said: “This move would have some benefits for the player if you look at the pros and cons of it.

“The pros are that the prospect of Champions League football is not something to be sniffed at, especially if you are challenging yourself at the highest level. Also, Celtic Park speaks for itself with its atmosphere, and it is something that is spoken about in Germany, too.

“The downside for him is that he will not be tested as much week-in-week-out as he is in the Bundesliga, as it is a top 5 league in world football. He would also not be playing in packed stadiums every week, as he does at Augsburg.

“Regardless, the lure of the Champions League could be a massive factor for somebody like him.”