Celtic are now said to be drawing up a shortlist of candidates to replace midfielder Arne Engels, who is headed to West Ham. The Bhoys were hoping to keep hold of Engels until after the Champions League qualifiers, which take place on August 18 and 25, but that will not be the case.
West Ham are said to have agreed a £22million deal for Engels, who is now well on his way to the Championship side and will not be involved for the Bhoys on Saturday.
Sky Sports reporter Anthony Joseph reported on X: "UPDATE: Celtic midfielder Arne Engels has agreed terms on a five-year deal with West Ham. Reported earlier today that the clubs had agreed a £22m deal for the Belgium international. Engels is due to undergo a medical in London today.
"Have until noon tomorrow to finalise the paperwork and register the 22-year-old with the EFL in time for their Championship opener away to Burnley on Sunday. Augsburg hold a 10% sell-on clause on the overall fee for Engels and will be due around £2.2m."
Celtic draw up replacement shortlist
According to Joseph, Celtic already have their shortlist of Engels replacements lined up, keeping in mind Mika Baur has already been added to the midfield, butt he idea was always to add at least two central midfielders.
Joseph added: "Celtic have already drawn up a shortlist of potential targets to replace West Ham-bound Arne Engels. Understands Hadjuk Split’s Niko Sigur and Torino’s Gvidas Gineitis are the prime targets for this position, but a number of others are also being considered."
We have already seen plenty of Gineitis links this summer, with the Torino midfielder expected to cost around £12-£13million. As for Sigur, he is a Canada international who played at the World Cup this summer.
He currently plays for Hajduk Split, making 98 league appearances for the club so far. What Celtic might like about Sigur is that he can also playing at right-back despite being a midfielder, and that might come in handy if Alistair Johnston does end up leaving.
Sigur is expected to be significantly cheaper than Gineitis, with talk he could cost around £3million. Gineitis could cost £13million if Celtic are lucky, with talks Red Bull Salzburg could even take the bidding up to as much as £20million.
Baur will help Celtic bridge the gap left by Engels, but they will want to address their midfield void quickly, albeit whoever is signed will not be eligible for those qualifying playoffs in any case.
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