Matt O'Riley was always destined to earn Celtic a hefty windfall, now the Scottish Premiership champions have been backed to develop Arne Engels into a £40million footballer. 

In a significant move this summer, Celtic secured 21-year-old Belgian playmaker for a club record fee of £11m from FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga.

This acquisition followed the Hoops’ impressive £30m transfer of O'Riley to Brighton, showcasing their willingness to re-invest in talent.

Just prior to this, they had also made headlines with the signing of Adam Idah from Norwich City, marking another record for the club.

Analyst and former Manchester United star Hargreaves praised Celtic's strategic approach in the transfer market, noting their ability to attract players from diverse backgrounds.

He emphasised that Celtic serves as an excellent platform for young talents to hone their skills, given the high stakes and competitive environment they face.

The Scottish Sun questioned if Engels could become the first player in our game to be valued as high as £40m, with Hargreaves suggesting it's certainly possible should the midfielder maintain his current trajectory.

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"Yeah, but it should be because of inflation and the price of everything going up," he said. 

"You see it everywhere. So why should it not happen in football? Brendan knows his stuff. He's not going to miss with Engels when they've invested that level of money in him. Celtic have done a good job on transfers.

"Look at the Japanese market and the way they've done well there and find little niches. I also think learning to play at a club like Celtic is really amazing because the history of the football club is exceptional. One of the best.

"Then you get the expectation from the crowd. You get to compete in big games. You get an experienced manager like Brendan Rodgers You couldn't dream of anything more as a young kid. You have all that going in your favour.

"If you can manage on that stage and flourish, with all those expectations and demands, then the natural progression is you will get a big move. It happened with Virgil van Dijk. You'll go play somewhere else because then Celtic will look to cash in and they'll reinvest and the scouting has to be good.

"I love it when young guys go to places where there are demands on them and where they have to learn to perform at a top level consistently, if that's the way you think mentally, then I think it's nothing but a positive.

"Brighton have done such an amazing job of that. They fish in pools that other people just don't find interesting enough to go and try for themselves.

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"A good player doesn't have to come from one of the bigger nations like Brazil or Spain or England. They are everywhere. I think the trick is to go where nobody knows who they are and get them pretty cheap. That's where recruitment is crazy important.

"Sometimes you've got to take a punt on a player but I think that talent pool is undiminished around the world. There are so many amazing young kids out there to be discovered. You've just got to get them before everybody else knows who they are. That's where you make your money."

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