Celtic struck gold with record similar to star valued at £149m

Celtic experienced a strong performance at the national level in Brendan Rodgers' first season at the club last season, as they won the Scottish Premiership and the SFA Cup.

However, the Hoops also finished last in their Champions League group and won just one of their six matches, before the revamped league stage came into play this season.

When the summer transfer happened, the Scottish giants lost midfielder Matt O'Riley to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion in a permanent deal.

However, Rodgers was later backed by the board who made numerous signings to strengthen the squad, with the aim of improving their success in Europe.

Celtic's summer signings

The Hoops have decided to sign central defender Auston Trusty from Sheffield United for a £6 million fee And Recently released Football FanCast an article explaining why they hit the jackpot with him, as his performances in the Champions League earned him comparisons to Arsenal star William Saliba.

Celtic also accepted a sum of up to £9.5 million for Adam Idah and reportedly paid £3.5m to sign Paulo Bernardo, following their loans to Norwich and Benfica respectively during the 2023/24 campaign.

Veteran goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was signed for free and kept an eye-catching look 11 white sheets in 14 league matches.

Your changes have been saved

Follow


Follow up

Track with notifications

Follow

Unfollow

Market players

Football FanCast's Market Movers series explores the changing landscape of the modern transfer market. How much is your club's star player or your club's biggest failure worth today?

However, the biggest signing of the window was Arne Engels, who joined a Record £11m transfer to German side Augsburg to bolster Rodgers' options in midfield.

Celtic hit the jackpot with Arne Engels

Celtic appear to have hit the jackpot with the Belgian starlet as he has made the desired impact in the Champions League for the Hoops.

According to FBrefReal Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham has been one of the most Engels-like players in Europe's premier competition this season, which shows just how impressive the young Bhoys has been.

As you can see in the table above, both players are central midfielders looking to make a big impact at the top of the pitch by generating high xG and xAG scores without penalty.

Bellingham, who scored 26 goals in 59 matches for Real Madrid, is valued at a huge price €180m (£149m) per Transfermarktwhich illustrates just how impressive Engels has been in Europe to merit a comparison with the England international.

As you can see in the table above, the Belgian record player, who is the most expensive signing in the club's history, has been directly involved in four goals in five Champions League matches.

Engels, who also scored two goals and created three “big chances” in 11 Premiership matches, helped the Hoops win two and draw two of their opening five matches in Europe.

This means that, although in a different format, the Belgium international has played an important role in Celtic's much-improved record in Europe this season compared to last.

Related

Premier League clubs eye Celtic academy star who could be Ben Doak 2.0

Brendan Rodgers must finally give the teenage sensation a chance in Celtic's first team.

At the age of 21, Engels also has plenty of time to develop and improve further and, at present, Celtic appear to have struck gold with the Bellingham star.