Celtic have rejected Nottingham Forest's third and reportedly final bid worth £25 million for starter Arne Engels. The first two bids were rejected instantly, and although Celtic were said to have "mulled it over", they ultimately decided to hold onto their talent.
Forest had two bids rejected, worth £14 million and £17.3 million respectively. After the second bid was rejected, it was reported that the Premier League club chose to look elsewhere, but ended up coming back for one last shot.
Sean Dyche was keen to bring Engels to England, but Martin O'Neill was clear that the midfielder is not for sale. Celtic values the Belgian highly and doesn't want to lose him at such an important point in the season.
Celtic send a clear message
The Hoops have sent a clear message to anyone interested in Engels: If you want the midfielder, you are going to have to pay up.
We can safely say that Engels will not go anywhere before the deadline tonight. He may leave in the summer, but Celtic fans can be happy that they get to keep their talented player until the end of the season at least.
Forest's deal would have seen the Celts net the same fee as they received for Kieran Tierney to Arsenal and Jota to Al-Ittihad. The fee would only be beaten out by Matt O'Riley's transfer to Brighton.
Some supporters are fuming that the club haven't accepted the lucrative offer, but it's impossible to deny that this could be a positive for Celtic. Not only could Engels help the Scottish side win the title come the end of the season, but he could also bring in a similar fee if the club do decide to move on in the summer.
Other supporters are grateful that Celtic haven't snatched the money. Critics of the board pointed out that even if the fee were accepted, it's unlikely that we would see most of it being reinvested into the squad.
If we were to let Engels go, it would also be difficult to replace him so late in the window. Celtic were previously linked with Norwegian midfielder Felix Horn Myhrem, but the sports director of Brann quickly shut that down, denying the player the opportunity to leave.
As fans have pointed out, Celtic were offered great money, but there's one clear fact: the Hoops don't need that money right now.
Celtic are, thankfully, in a monetary position where they can choose whether to make this move. There is no point receiving a large fee for a crucial player if it means it would weaken our title run-in. The Celts currently trail Hearts by six points, and they are going to need to keep all of their starters for a chance at that trophy.