West Ham chief Nils Koppen has provided some insight into the club's negotiations with Celtic over the signing of Arne Engels. The Hammers signed Engels for £22million, which was an EFL record.
The Iron had big money to spend after selling Mateus Fernandes for £85million to Tottenham, and it was a little surprising that Celtic compromised on their £25million asking price.
In fact, it is even more of a surprise based on quotes from Hammers chief Koppen, who says Celtic did not want to sell.
Speaking on West Ham’s official Iron Cast podcast, Koppen said: "That position was where we said we must spend the most because of what we lost with Mateus leaving. Sometimes the players we want to sign will never be ‘available’ because the club doesn’t want to sell them because they’re also top players for them.
“For example, that was the case with Celtic and Arne Engels. We as a club and as a board had to try to go around the table with that club to get it done. These clubs don’t want to sell these players. But every player has a price and it’s up to us to find the best possible deal to get the player to the club.”
Celtic may have been playing hard to get
While Celtic may not have wanted to sell Engels on the face of it, the reality is that they knew they would lose him in the summer after rejecting a big offer or two in January.
It would be ill-advised to go into any negotiating acting as though you want or need to sell, so it remains logical that Celtic were holding out initially. Having said that, the timing of the deal was baffling.
The Bhoys sold Engels right before the Champions League qualifiers, and they went into those two games without a replacement, which certainly showed in the second leg.
Celtic did okay in getting £22million, although it was surprising they didn't hold out for £25million based on how much West Ham brought in during the summer. But the timing of the deal was a problem.
They either should have sold early and replaced Engels or kept him to get into the Champions League to ensure they could find and afford a proper replacement. Yes, there is a risk of injury and the potential for the player throwing his toys out of the pram, but if they had pre-agreed a deal, it's likely they could have convinced Engels to stay and play for a week, and the Belgian had already been playing in the lead up to his move.
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