Celtic have been busy throughout the summer transfer window as they set about trying to improve the squad that Brendan Rodgers has to work with next season.
There has been plenty of business done already, with the likes of Benjamin Nygren, Kieran Tierney, Ross Doohan, Callum Osmand, and Hayato Inamura all arriving at Parkhead.
However, the £1.7m that they have reportedly paid to sign Nygren is the biggest fee that has been spent, which means that they have yet to reinvest much of the reported £16.5m that Como have spent on Nicolas Kuhn.
Scottish broadcaster Hugh Keevins recently offered his thoughts on the window, writing: ‘Why don’t we just buy somebody terrific? Corporate negligence would be not re-investing the money for the betterment of the team. Celtic can’t afford to mis-manage this transfer window. They’re so good at it that if they fell out of the transfer window they’d go up.’
Last summer, Celtic made sure that they reinvested the money that they got for Matt O’Riley with a club-record deal for Arne Engels, who has turned out to be an excellent signing for the club.
Why Arne Engels has been worth the money for Celtic
The Scottish Premiership champions reportedly splashed out a club-record fee of £11m to sign the Belgium international from Bundesliga side Augsburg ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
It was a statement signing for Celtic because they were willing to spend big money to bring in a top-quality player to bolster their squad, and he proved his worth on the pitch.
The 21-year-old central midfielder ended his first season in Scottish football with a haul of 10 goals and 13 assists in 52 appearances in all competitions, which shows that he provided quality as both a scorer and a creator of goals.
His £11m price tag naturally created plenty of hype around him ahead of last season, given the money involved and the prospect of his potential to deliver on the pitch, and he lived up to it.
The midfield maestro’s performances in the Champions League, as Celtic reached the play-off round, also showed that they signed a player who can perform at the very top level.
xAG
0.25
Top 7%
Assists
0.37
Top 6%
Shot-creating actions
3.11
Top 29%
Key passes
2.24
Top 6%
Percentage of dribblers tackled
71.4%
Top 9%
Tackles made
2.49
Top 28%
Passes blocked
1.12
Top 27%
As you can see in the table above, Engels stacked up well against his positional peers in several key offensive and defensive metrics, which shows that he provided an impressive box-to-box presence in the middle of the park for the Hoops.
His overall output in front of goal and his performances in the Champions League show that he lived up to the hype as a top-class performer for Celtic, which is why there may not be too many complaints about the fee paid for him at this point.
Celtic, however, may not have to spend a record transfer fee, or any transfer fee, to secure this summer’s version of their deal to bring Engels to the club.
Instead, Brendan Rodgers could land a high-profile free agent who could arrive at Parkhead with the same level of fanfare that the move to sign the Belgian whiz was met with.
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Earlier this month, CaughtOffside named the Hoops as one of a number of clubs, including Manchester United and Newcastle United, interested in a deal to sign Dominic Calvert-Lewin on a free transfer.
The former England international left Everton at the end of last month and the report claimed that he is set to demand £100k-per-week in wages, which is why it could still be an expensive deal for Celtic despite the lack of a transfer fee.
Why Calvert-Lewin could be this summer's Engels for Celtic
Snapping up the 28-year-old striker would be this summer’s Engels signing for Rodgers because it would involve committing a huge amount of money to a marquee addition, albeit in wages rather than a transfer fee.
The likes of Newcastle, who are in the Champions League, and Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in the world, being interested in Calvert-Lewin illustrates the quality he possesses and shows why the forward would likely join Celtic to much fanfare if they were to win the race for his signature.
In the 2024/25 campaign, the experienced striker only scored three goals in 26 appearances in the Premier League for the Toffees, as he found himself on the bench behind Beto.
However, Calvert-Lewin has scored 57 goals in 279 games in the English top-flight, including a 16-goal haul in the 2020/21 season, which shows that he is a proven Premier League goalscorer who could provide huge quality in front of goal in Scottish football.
Take Adam Idah as a relevant example. The Ireland international scored one goal in 29 games for Norwich in the Premier League, yet he has plundered 21 goals in 50 outings in the Scottish Premiership.
Now imagine the kind of numbers that a proven Premier League goalscorer could put up as Celtic’s main number nine next season. It is an exciting prospect and one that could generate a lot of fanfare, should the club win the race for Calvert-Lewin.
Richarlison comparing the forward to the iconic Cristiano Ronaldo does not help to temper excitement. The Brazilian attacker once said: “He must be a nightmare to play against and he has an incredible leap on him like Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Calvert-Lewin may leap like Ronaldo but he does not appear to have the durability of the Portuguese legend, as he has suffered from too many injuries in recent seasons.
24/25
2
15
23/24
3
6
22/23
4
29
21/22
2
33
20/21
2
5
As you can see in the table above, the former England international struggled in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns in particular, but also missed 15 games last season.
This means that Celtic will have to way up the risk versus the reward in this transfer race because there is the potential for him to be a prolific, marquee, striker signing and this summer’s Engels, but there is also the risk that may not be available enough to make a significant impact.
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Given the potential upside, this is one that Rodgers should be pushing the club to get over the line if there is a realistic chance of getting it done.
