Callum McGregor has vowed that the Celtic squad will shield Arne Engels from his detractors, offering a passionate defence of the club’s record signing…
The £11 million midfielder signed from Augsburg last summer has scored 10 goals in his first season, but the 21-year-old has faced criticism for his overall impact, despite being a consistent starter.
Calmac showing how great a Celtic captain he is by protecting a young star from his critics
However, McGregor has strongly rejected the flak the Belgian has received, delivering a passionate defence of his teammate and affirming the value he has added to Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Engels featured for 60 minutes in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with theRangers at Ibrox, and the mixed feedback on his performance highlighted the inconsistent opinions held by both fans and pundits.
“He was excellent, I think what everyone forgets is he is still so young, he is such a young player.”
The captain was pleased with what he saw both in the match against the Ibrox club and throughout the season as a whole. As reported by Daily Record, McGregor said: “He was excellent, I think what everyone forgets is he is still so young, he is such a young player. He’s in his first season and nominated for young player of the year and shows how well he has done.”
“He comes with a mammoth price tag, straight away everyone forgets the fact he is only 21, and sometimes in the building we think he is way more mature than what he actually is. I think he has done amazing, again he was excellent in that midfield three and Paulo coming into the game I thought was excellent as well.”
“He can be really proud of his first season because I know how difficult it is”
“He can be really proud of his first season because I know how difficult it is, like I said, and now people are not cutting him the slack because he has been that good and demand more from him, because he has come with a big price tag. We have to protect him and we will.”
The 31 year-old is fully confident that Engels’ best performances at Celtic are still ahead of him. He added: “He has got massive quality, massive ability. He has got a great temperament, like I said, he has scored 10 goals, a really good return for his first season.”
“He has played 10 games in the Champions League, he is only going to get better, which is a brilliant thing for us.
“For a first season, to come in and settle the way that he has, we are really proud of him and happy with what he has done. He has played 10 Champions League games, all these derby games, and is part of a successful Celtic team who are going to finish at least 17 points clear, and we have another Cup Final to add to what we have already done.
“To be a part of it, to be a huge part of it, to have played so many games then what a really good return and such a bulk of work that he will have that experience and he will come back in the summer and be even better for it.”
Like Adam Idah, Arne’s problem appears to be related to his transfer fee. The sum Celtic paid for the two players is nothing to do with them but it seems to be that some supporters reckon that they should be pretty much perfect performers in every game and if they’re not then the criticism starts.
Both will be better next season of that there is no doubt but neither has had a BAD season this year. For Arne as a first season settling in at Celtic and celebrating his 21st birthday, he has done as well as could reasonably be expected. Brendan is clearly happy because he keeps selecting Engels to play.
The manager’s plan is to continue signing players of a higher value than the £3m punt projects approach which was in full flow when he walked back in the door in June 2023. As a support we need to adjust to this too. It’s still players Celtic want to develop that are coming in, and the process is the same. It’s just that the raw material is of a higher quality to begin with.
So if you’re an Arne Engels critic it’s time to hard yer wheesht, or you’ll have Calmac to deal with.
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Exactly, the guy has come here to try and improve, but when you have main stream biased media every thing is scrutinised. For me personally I think his done not bad.
Totally agree; the lad will be even better next season.