Arne Engels can deliver much needed energy boost to Celtic midfield
Arne Engels can deliver much needed energy boost to Celtic midfield The return of Arne Engels to full fitness could be just what the doctor ordered with regard to Celtic’s midfield worries which were all too apparent in the 1-0 win over St Mirren at Celtic Park last weekend… Arne Engels of Celtic has a shot on goal. Celtic v Livingston, Scottish Premiership, 11 Feb rural 2026. Photo Mark Runnacles IMAGO Shutterstock Martin O’Neill started with Callum McGregor, carrying an injury but insisting in player, another veteran in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who got the only goal of the match and Benjamin Nygren who despite his notable goalscoring contributions in his debut season, seems to offer very little else to this Celtic team.
It’s clearly the Sweden international’s goals that are keeping him in a Celtic side which has a handful of strikers in the squad who have got nowhere near double figures all season. That problem seems to be affecting the middle of the park and a solution needs to be found this afternoon at Hampden as Celtic once again take on St Mirren in the second Scottish Cup semi-final with the the winners going forward to face Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline Athletic in the final on Saturday 23 May. Writing in his weekly newspaper column this weekend former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has been looking at possible solutions to this problem and reckons that the real difference maker for Celtic could turn out to be record signing Arne Engels who returned to the team last weekend for the closing stages after two months on the sidelines.
Sutton reckons that the Belgium international, who will be looking for a late season burst of form to force his way into Belgian World Cup squad, can provide something that the Celtic midfield is clearly lacking – ENERGY. “Nottingham Forest wanted to shell out £25million for Arne Engels just over two months ago,” Sutton noted in his Daily Record column. “The fact bids from the City Ground were rejected puzzled a number of Celtic fans who still feel the Belgian hasn’t really justified a purchase price of less than half that figure.
“But this feels like a huge chance for Engels to silence his doubters and fully make good on the £11 million paid out for him because he has something which could prove to be priceless for Martin O’Neill in the coming five weeks. Energy. “The midfielder has legs and running power in the engine room and that is something Celtic are struggling badly with at the moment,” Sutton stated.
Arne Engels – theRangers v Celtic,31 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star) “Listen, Engels isn’t the answer to every issue at my old club and it’s certainly unfair for anyone to expect him to be so. He’s a footballer, not a magician.
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