Arne Engels starting to shine, Celtic’s lead now 15 points after Dens Park draw

The Celtic Star

·9 January 2025

Arne Engels starting to shine, Celtic’s lead now 15 points after Dens Park draw

Arne Engels produced another fine performance in the 2-0 win over Dundee United that saw us increase our lead at the top of the table to 16 points ahead of the 1-1 draw at Dens Park this evening between Dundee and theRangers…

Arne Engels celebrates scoring during the match between Celtic and Motherwell at Celtic Park, on 26th December 2024. (Picture by Mark Runnacles)

So Celtic are now 15 points ahead – one more than on New Year’s Day ahead of our trip to Ibrox.

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Arne became our record signing in the summer when he signed for £11 million from FC Augsburg and big things were naturally expected from the Belgian.

Pedigree to play at the top level

Admittedly despite showing some promise he didn’t exactly live up to expectations, but you could still see that he had something about him, and given time he would show his true potential.

That didn’t stop the more critical element of our support questioning his signing, as he was quickly judged and deemed an underwhelming acquisition. That seemed very harsh as the 21 year old arrived with over 50 games in the Bundesliga under his belt, and has just recently become a full Belgian international, so he certainly has the pedigree to play at the top level.

Arne Engels in action during the Premier Sports Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star

Arne to his credit hasn’t been fazed in any shape or form and has ignored his critics to do his talking on the park. The Belgian has produced great performances in his last few games to suggest the doubters have been a wee bit premature in judging him so quickly.

He still has a long way to go, but I’ve no doubts that he will become a great player over the course of his Celtic career.

Arne Engels of Celtic FC and Jashari Ardon of Club Brugge during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic and Club Brugge on November 27, 2024. Photo: Peter De Voecht

This week reports from Italy revealed that Angels is already on Europa League holders Atalanta’s radar with their valuation of him already soaring to £18m – that’s £7m more than Celtic paid for the player. Engels is sure to have a big future in the game ahead of him and will undoubtedly be a huge transfer for Celtic further down the line.

Let’s enjoy him while we’ve got him and hopefully that’s for a good few years yet.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

Kasper Schmeichel acknowledges the fans following the Scottishl Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 08, 2025 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

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