Celtic have booted out a £14million offer from Nottingham Forest for midfielder Arne Engels as boss Martin O’Neill targets three new signings on deadline day.
Forest’s bid came swiftly on the back of Celtic’s 2-0 win over Falkirk, which moved them up to second in the table above Rangers on goal difference.
It was duly turned down, with O’Neill insisting the club are determined to hang on to the Belgian international who was signed for £11m in 2024.
‘Honestly, I am telling you, I didn’t know anything about it,’ said O’Neill, when asked about Forest’s attempt. ‘If they have done it, then they must have done it during the game. And I would want it rebuffed, unless it was £100million. Then I think the board would step in there. No, absolutely, I would rather keep him.’
On what is shaping up to be a hectic deadline day, Celtic are braced for another offer from the Premier League club before the window closes tomorrow night.
O’Neill also revealed that Celtic are close to wrapping up deals for Freiburg striker Junior Adamu and Lorient winger Joel Mvuka.
Nottingham Forest target Arne Engels helps his team to a 2-0 victory over Falkirk at Celtic Park
Celtic boss Martin O’Neill says they have all but completed the signing of two new players
Loan signing Tomas Cvancara heads in the opening goal on his home debut for Celtic
Daily Mail Sport understands the Parkhead club are also in the market for another centre-back, which could have an impact on Stephen Welsh’s potential loan move back to Motherwell.
The moves for Adamu and Mvuka are thought to be imminent, barring any late hitches with their medicals, as Celtic look to bolster their squad for the title run-in.
‘Yeah, I think they’ve either done their medicals or are about to do them, so that helps us a little bit,’ said O’Neill.
‘You never know, there might be something else before Monday evening at 11 o’clock. And then you won’t be able to ask me on Tuesday, which will be the biggest relief of all time. No, it’s fine.
‘The first thing I think about, we need Adamu. He’s a very fine player and can hold the ball up. Sometimes he’s played very, very little, but he can make an impact.
‘We definitely need someone strong in there. I think Adamu can do that. I think there’s a little bit of pace with the young lad from Lorient.
‘So it’ll just give us a couple of options as much as anything else. We are hopeful there might be a possibility of other things happening before 11pm as well.’
Celtic saw off Falkirk thanks to a terrific headed opener from new striker Tomas Cvancara on his home debut after joining on loan from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Benjamin Nygren added a second goal after the break to wrap up the three points.
Both Celtic and Rangers are now six points behind leaders Hearts after the Ibrox side drew 0-0 at Easter Road earlier in the day.
O’Neill was pleased with his team’s performance, especially on the back of their efforts against Utrecht in the Europa League last Thursday night.
‘Yeah, it was a tough game for us,’ he said. ‘I was really concerned about the game beforehand. Big exertions on Thursday evening, just wondering about the energy levels as much as anything else.
‘Falkirk are a really good team. The manager (John McGlynn) has been fantastic, how he’s assembled a side who can play.
‘I don’t think after that game in Europe you would want to have played Hearts or Rangers. But, outside that, Falkirk were not the team on Sunday I would have been wanting to play, even at home.
‘We conjured up a win, we got the two goals, and there were periods of the game where we did really well and periods where we didn’t have the ball.
‘But it was great to win – and I think it was an important win, obviously, because we have to hang in there.’
On Cvancara’s important contribution, O’Neill added: ‘It was great and it was the breakthrough for us as well, too, which was needed.
‘That’s nice for him and it’ll give him a really big boost of confidence. There are parts of his game I think that obviously need tidying up, which I think he can do.
‘He hasn’t played much football in recent times, so that’s two games for us so far.
‘He makes the goal for us at Hearts, and I think at that stage he might have been the only player on our field who could have made that run at the time.
‘And he’s come in and he’s got the goal today. So he’s wanting to prove himself – and I think there’s a player there.’
