Despite shelling out a club-record fee of £11m on his services, Chris Sutton thinks Celtic have got a bargain in Arne Engels.
The former Hoops centre-forward-turned-pundit has been taken aback by the midfielder’s early displays in green and white.
The Belgian made his first start for the Bhoys last Saturday against Hearts and kept his composure to score from the spot.
Engels then got the nod midweek in the UEFA Champions League and caught the eye again, setting up Liam Scales for the opener against Slovan Bratislava before putting Celtic 3-0 up with another top penalty.
The former Augsburg man probably should have won Man of the Match but was named in Sofascore’s Champions League Team of the Week regardless.
He already looks like a successful signing and has been a cut above with his performances so far.
Although Celtic paid a hefty fee for Engels, compared to what other teams have spent on certain players this summer, Sutton believes the Scottish Premiership champions have made a shrewd acquisition.
“Any scouts or spies in the stands or tuning in [on Wednesday] would have looked at Engels and felt £11m was a bargain,” he said (RecordSport).
“It is in European terms. The likes of Brentford spent £30m on Igor Thiago, Ipswich Town spent double the cost of Engels on Omari Hutchinson. Celtic spent a lot in comparison to Bratislava – but it’s still chicken feed compared to the likes of Borussia Dortmund.
“It’s obvious Engels is a player though. He’s got ability on the ball and he’s got tremendous physicality. He’s barely in the door and looks like he’s been in with the bricks for ages.
“For the first time in donkeys, Celtic even look a threat from corner kicks with him on dead balls.
“It’s early days and he’s still got to be developed, but he already looks like he’s the perfect fit for Celtic’s model of buying prospects and getting the best out of them before big money offers come calling.”
Fans won’t want to wish Engels away yet, but he does look like another player Celtic will sell for a significant sum in future years.
He is still just 21, though, and has a wealth of development to undergo.
Seeing how he improves throughout his time in Glasgow should be exciting because the number 27 is already shining despite his tender age.
