West Ham United’s interest in Celtic playmaker Arne Engels is nothing new. Unfortunately for Nuno Espirito Santo, Nils Koppen and co, their chances of actually bringing the Belgium international to the London Stadium look pretty slim.
Reports of an approach for a number of Celtic players have been doing the rounds over the last 24 hours.
As of Wednesday morning, Hammers News can reveal that the three initially unnamed Hoops players on West Ham’s radar are Arne Engels, Reo Hatate and Michel-Ange Balikwisha.
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Now, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is certainly not short of cash, or ambition for that matter. Reports that the Hammers are willing to spend £25 million on Axel Disasi suggest that the Championship transfer record – currently the £17.5 million deal which took Sindre Walle Egeli to Ipswich Town last summer – may not last much longer.
But in Engels, a midfielder for whom Celtic have already rejected bids of £25 million, West Ham United may be leaping for a branch far too high on the proverbial money tree.
West Ham United would have to break the bank for Celtic’s Arne Engels
Nottingham Forest failed with three separate bids for former Augsburg schemer Engels as recently as January, per Sky Sports.
Now, Celtic boss Martin O’Neill does admit that the Hoops might have been more inclined to accept had their £25 million offer not arrived so late in the window, when there was no time to find a replacement.
A glimmer of hope, perhaps. But only a glimmer.
Because with two years left on Engels’ contract, and with Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Lazio, Villarreal, Roma and Atletico Madrid reportedly among a hefty, deep-pocketed list of admirers, for second-tier West Ham, one man’s ‘ambitious’ may be another’s ‘delusional’.
“I haven’t heard that. I would have heard that by now,” O’Neill told reporters this week when asked about any new offers for his four-cap Belgian. “There might be something, but I don’t know anything.”
“All those bids Nottingham Forest made [in January] came in on the 11th hour, so that was just a non-goer for us at that particular stage. Then, he got injured just after that.
“So if some things can happen a bit earlier, then maybe there’s some resignation on my part [that we might lose Engels this summer].”
Having spent two highly successful spells in the Parkhead dugout over the last quarter of a century, 74-year-old O’Neill is long enough in the tooth to know how the footballing food chain works. Celtic will lose Arne Engels sooner rather than later.
Probably this summer, as long as bids arrive earlier than they did in the winter.
But put your claret-tinted glasses down for a second. Realistically, what chance do West Ham have when Celtic have already turned down offers that would shatter the Championship record? Not to mention when clubs from England to Italy, via Madrid, are offering top-flight and/or European football?
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Hammers’ pursuit of a Mateus Fernandes replacement goes on
Still only 22, Engels scored seven goals and assisted eight more as Celtic snatched the Scottish Premiership title from under the noses of surprise-packages Hearts last season.
He is the latest silky creative midfielder to be mentioned by a club with a Mateus Fernandes-shaped void in their engine room. Fernandes’ £85 million move to Tottenham gives Nuno and new director Nils Koppen – who came up against Engels, Hatate and Balikwisha north of the border with Rangers – plenty of cash to play with.
But in a summer when reinforcements are needed in numerous areas – a midfield rebuild only scratching the surface of West Ham’s plans – blowing the budget on Engels would perhaps not be the smartest move.
Koppen’s strategy revolves around a ‘creative’, out of the box approach to recruitment, after all.
Affordable, left-field targets such as Denil Castillo [Midtjylland], Emam Ashour [Al-Ahly], Gustavo Sa [Famalicao], and Patrick Berg [Bodo/Glimt] are more his speed.
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