Arne Engels reveals the reason he wanted to sign for Celtic

Arne Engels spoke to the mainstream media this afternoon ahead of tomorrow evening’s match at Pittodrie in the Scottish Premiership against Celtic’s Scottish Cup final opponents Aberdeen…

Arne Engels Celtic
St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup Semi-Final at Hampden Park on 20 April 2025: Arne Engels Celtic. Photo Alex Todd IMAGO

“Everybody wants to win and wants to do really well every game, and I hope we do that tomorrow. It’s going to be a really difficult opponent away so it’s up to us to show ourselves,” Arne Engels 

The Celtic midfielder revealed that everyone is now back in training as Celtic gear up for the showcase final and the chance to add a third trophy to complete another treble for the club. That would make it a world record ninth treble for Celtic and Brendan Rodgers will have won a third of them if he can get Celtic across the line at Hampden on Saturday 24 May.

The 21 year-old Belgian talks about just how much he has enjoyed his first season at the club and the big change in approach from his time in the Bundesliga with Augsburg where the demands were very different.

Engels wanted to sample Celtic’s pursuit of success and the demands on the players to win every game that they play and that’s certainly something he’s thoroughly enjoyed in his debut season at Celtic.

Arne Engels celebrates
Arne Engels of Celtic celebrates at full time during the SPL | Premier League match between Dundee United FC and Celtic FC at Tannadice Park on April 26, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Engels reckons he has played well, helped the team achieve the objectives and has adapted well to life at Celtic with its pretty unique demands on players.

Arne points out that he’s already won two of the trophies on offer and is hungry to get his hands on the third in a week and a half from now.

“I think of course you’re trying to get better in every aspect of the game and I’ve done that already,” Engels said. “You come into a Celtic team that is really dominant and that was not really my case before in Augsburg.

Adam Idah of Celtic celebrates
Adam Idah of Celtic celebrates scoring the second goal with teammate Arne Engels and Cameron Carter-Vickers during the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Quarter-Final match between Celtic and Hibernian at Celtic Park on March 09, 2025.. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“Now you come here, you are the dominant team and need to win. That’s a different thing and you need to play a bit different than what you’re used to. I adapted really well I think and I’m making a lot of progress with a lot of things.”

Asked if he was surprised at the demands on Celtic players to win every game the Celtic midfielder replied: “No, I expected it. It’s also a reason why I wanted to come here, because you’re expected to win.

Arne Engels scores again
Arne Engels of Celtic celebrates scoring to make the score 5-0. Celtic v Dundee, at Celtic on 5 February 2025 Photo Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock

“Also to play for trophies, for the league, it’s something different and I wanted to experience that because it’s a totally different mentality to other teams. I also wanted to add that to my bank and to show that I had that, so it was a reason to come here.”

Arne Engels
Arne Engels at Ibrox. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Listen to Arne Engels mainstream media conference below…

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About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor David Faulds has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

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