After Celtic’s 3-0 Old Firm victory on Sunday and the acquisition of Luke McCowan, Arne Engels is not a lock to start for the club. With Bernardo, 22, and McGowan, 26, now ahead of him, Frank McAvennie, an ex-Celtic striker, exclusively spoke to Football Insider and acknowledged that it might take weeks for the 20-year-old center midfielder to adjust to Brendan Rodgers’ preferred style of play.
Engels arrived at Celtic late on August 30, having left German team Augsburg for a club-record £11 million. Over the summer, McCowan and Bernardo finalized their permanent moves to Celtic Park. Bernardo had spent the previous season on loan from Portuguese powerhouse Benfica in Glasgow.
Arne Engels’ arrival has loaded the midfield for Celtic. During his two years in Augsburg, Engels made 53 appearances, 34 of which were starts. He was primarily a central midfielder but could also play right in front of the back four.
Eight first-team players are vying for three starting positions, giving Celtic plenty of choices in the middle of the park in the wake of Matt O’Riley’s high-profile transfer to Brighton.
I think it’s fantastic,” McAvennie said to Football Insider. “It will take Engels a few weeks to get used to playing the way Celtic want him to play, even though you can tell he’s still a young player and he’s played a lot of games.
On Sunday, the boys were biting at everyone’s toes; if they hadn’t been on the practice field, they would have been snapping at heels whenever someone got the ball.
Engles needs to resolve the matter within a few weeks in order to be considered for this team. “When McGowan first got on, you should have seen his face—it looked like he had won the lotto. I also felt very happy for him. It was wonderful to realize that he is a man of Celtic descent from a large family.
Despite his limited role, he and Bernardo provide us with players who can enter the game without disrupting the flow. “Let’s hope we can do something on the European stage and reclaim that fortress at Celtic Park. Brendan now has a team of fighters I really like.”
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