24 Apr 2026 07:04 BST |
5 min read
Ex-Celtic winger Aiden McGeady has told his former club to accept an offer of roughly €30 million for Arne Engels during the upcoming summer transfer window.
The Belgium international was heavily linked with a Celtic Park exit in January, but the Hoops opted to reject two bids from Nottingham Forest in favour of retaining Engels’ services until at least the end of the season.
However, rumours of a departure persist and Forest are understood to have rekindled their interest ahead of this summer, while Serie A giants Lazio have also joined the race to secure his signature.
Engels, who joined Celtic from Augsburg for €13m in 2024, has scored five goals and provided seven assists in 40 games so far this season, and despite his importance to Martin O’Neill’s side, McGeady believes a sale should be permitted this summer.
Engels’ Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) currently stands at just €10.8m, but McGeady thinks that Nottingham Forest’s January valuation, just shy of €30m, is more accurate.
Arne Engels transfer verdict
Speaking on Go Radio (via Glasgow World), McGeady said: “I think it’d be surprising if he ends up staying at Celtic. I think Celtic has always been known as a selling club, a developing club. Most players that they bring in, they try to develop them, kind of rough diamonds in a way.
“It doesn’t always work out but Celtic have a track record of bringing in players, developing them on, giving them a platform, and selling them on.
“So I think it was surprising that Celtic turned down the reported bid in the January window from Nottingham Forest. I think they went up to 20 or £25 million. To turn that down, I thought at that time was making a good chunk of profit on a player who a lot of people thought was kind of overpriced to start with. I’d be surprised if a bid isn’t accepted if a big offer comes.”
He added: “There’s no smoke without fire. See when interest comes, I don’t know if everybody knows this, but when a bid comes in from a team and there’s interest, the player has already spoken to the team. The player has already spoken to the team and gave the green light.
“After that, it’s down to the clubs to negotiate a fee. I’d be surprised if he’s still there, but look, I think it’s his age and technically I think he’s all-round. He is a good player. I think Celtic could lose him and still be okay.”
McGeady concluded: “I’m just going to say the caveat to that could be that he’s not the finished article. If a team spends £25m on him from England or from somewhere in Europe on the continent, that could turn into a £50-60m player. We’ve seen it before. I do think he is more suited to a foreign style of play. I think if Celtic are offered that type of money they have to take it.”
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