On deadline day, Arne Engels arrived at Celtic from FC Augsburg and signed a four-year deal with Brendan Rodgers’ side.
At the weekend, the 20-year-old made his debut for Celtic in their 3-0 win over Rangers.
Gazet van Antwerpen discuss what Celtic and their fans can expect from the Belgian, who can operate across several positions.
Engels prefers to operate in the middle of the pitch but can also be used as fullback and a winger. He managed three goals and nine assists for the Bundesliga side last season.
The new Celtic signing could make his debut for Belgium during September’s international break. Gazet van Antwerpen claim he’s ‘relatively unknown to the general public’, even in his hometown, Opwijk, but that won’t be the case in Glasgow.
Engels is a product of Club Brugge’s youth system but didn’t make an appearance for their first team. He represented their reserve team, Club NXT, where he played under Rik De Mil’s orders.
De Mil, who’s currently managing Sporting Charleroi, is of the belief that Brendan Rodgers should use his compatriot mainly as a midfielder.
“Arne has many qualities. He has a lot of running ability – he’s a box-to-box – and excellent kicking technique. He’s also an interesting player for a coach because he’s so versatile. He can play on the outside, although I think he is at his best as a central midfielder.”
The Celtic player’s former manager believes he was ‘impatient’ at Club Brugge. However, his decision to leave the Jupiler Pro League side has turned out well so far.
“He was a bit impatient. Look… Arne is ambitious, and that’s good. But getting into the starting XI as a youngster at that time was not easy for our team: there was a lot of competition,” De Mil explained.
“Naturally, we considered Arne to be a great talent and we would have liked nothing more than for him to stay – he would certainly have made it at Club – but Arne would rather try elsewhere. That turned out well.”
The Sporting Charleroi manager has also insisted that Engles remains grounded.
“It’s all happening incredibly fast now, but Arne has his feet on the ground. He remains down-to-earth. And he’s also a smart boy: you can have a good conversation with Arne. Can you discuss the game? That is not obvious at that age,” he added.
