Arne Engels’ former teammate Kevin Mbabu has backed the Belgian to make a big impact in his second season in Scotland…
Arne Engels of Celtic Sporting Lisbon v Celtic, Pre Season Friendly, Football, Estadio Algarve, Portugal – 16 Jul 2025 Estadio Algarve Portugal Photo Carlos Rodrigues Shutterstock
FC Midtjylland right-back and one-time Ibrox defender Mbabu, played an influential role in the Danish side’s dramatic Europa League second qualifying round 2-1 victory against Hibs. He set up Junior Brumado’s spectacular overhead-kick in the 119th minute at Easter Road last Thursday.
During their time together at Bundesliga side FC Augsburg in the 2023-24 campaign, Mbabu got to see Celtic’s record signing in action and is convinced that Engels has the potential to reach the highest level.
“Arne is a top player with high potential,” Kevin Mbabu
“Arne is a top player with high potential,” the Switzerland international said as reported by Celtic Way. “I always told him that he has a lot of talent and is a great player. I know at some point at Augsburg, he didn’t feel he was getting the minutes he wanted.
Franck Kessie of Al-Ahli SFC competes for the ball with Arne Engels of Celtic FC during the Como Cup match between Al-Ahli and Celtic FC at Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on July 26, 2025 in Como, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
“But I always told him that he was one of the youngest players and that he had to keep working hard. I said to him to be calm and to be patient, that he had a great future ahead of him, and his time would come. Then the second part of the season, he played more, and he did very well.”
Mbabu added: “After that, he was selected for the first team for Belgium, and I was so happy for him. I have tried to keep an eye on him at Celtic. He has been doing very well. He has scored a lot of goals, a lot of penalties… he doesn’t miss them!”
“If he keeps going like that, I don’t think he will stay for long at Celtic.”
“I am very happy for him with his success at Celtic. I think he is an amazing player. If he keeps going like that, I don’t think he will stay for long at Celtic.”
Arne Engels scores the first goal from the penalty spot during the pre-season friendly match between Celtic and Newcastle United at Celtic Park on July 19, 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Across 52 games for Celtic last season, Engels contributed 10 goals and 13 assists in all competitions, marking an impressive campaign for the Belgian.
Although nominated for PFA Scotland’s Player of the Year, Engels encountered criticism from some supporters, some fan media and the mainstream media for certain displays last season and began last Sunday’s 1-0 victory against St Mirren on the bench, with newcomer Benjamin Nygren taking his place in the starting XI.
“Arne will be more mature now after one season at Celtic,” Mbabu
“Arne will be more mature now after one season at Celtic,” Mbabu said. “He has played a lot of games and also in the Champions League. I don’t think Arne is the kind of player who will care about the transfer fee – and I don’t think he should. He just wants to play football and have fun.”
“Arne will go higher and higher. You can see the ability he has. You can see in training how talented he is. He does stuff in training that you don’t really see in the games. I’ve seen a lot; his shooting, his crossing, his free-kicks and corners. Also, Arne works very hard. He is a team player, and he also has a great mentality.”
“I can only say that he has a great future ahead of him. It does not surprise me that Arne has settled so quickly with Celtic. He is a great boy, the kind that is a pleasure to be with in a dressing room, the type that you want in your team.”
Mbabu continued: “He is a player who speaks a lot of languages. which makes it easier to settle into a new dressing room, and he has a very good personality. I haven’t been in touch with him for a while, but I always keep an eye on his progress.”
“I think if Arne keeps playing the way he is, then at the end of the season, he will go somewhere else.”
Conor Spence
Yesterday Conor Spence attended the Celtic fan media conference at Celtic Park to represent The Celtic Star and to speak to Celtic legend James Forrest alongside supporters from four other fan media outlets. Here’s the video…
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Danny McGrain lifts the trophy in 1981. Photo The Celtic Wiki
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No he won’t. He’s had a full pre-season with the rest of the lads now. If he was going to kick on, it would have shown in pre-season games already. It hasn’t. We need to face a few cold hard facts. Engels and Trusty were two very poor buys. It’s buys like this, with a total combined expenditure of £17M that gives the board reason to be very concerned and cautious about some of the other players we are being linked with!
Look at Nygren! Streets ahead of Engels in every single possible way! The same with both Bernardo and McCowan! Both superior to Engels, yet add all three transfer fees together and you get change compared to the money tossed away on Engels!
Trusty was a panic buy for a position we didn’t need to fill! Yet we spent, sorry, wasted £6M on him! He isn’t fit to carry kit for Scales! The problem too many fans have is they feel that a player is only decent if you spend money on him! HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE?
We get KT back! One of the best full backs in Europe! He CHOSE to return to us! But because we didn’t PAY for him, the fans don’t count him! GO FIGURE!
He had his choice of top clubs but he chose CELTIC! But because it was a freedom of contract, it doesn’t count? Really?
Grow up!