Celtic have run the risk of alienating Arne Engels after rejecting a blockbuster bid of £25million from Nottingham Forest for the Belgian midfielder.
Engels became the subject of strong interest from Forest over the final 24 hours of the transfer window, with the English Premier League side seeing initial bids of £14m and £17m booted out.
They went back in for a third and final time, offering Celtic £20m up front with a further £5m in add-ons for the 22-year-old.
That gave the Parkhead club the chance to more than double their money on a player who was signed for £11m back in the summer of 2024.
But Celtic were adamant that the player was not for sale at any price, with Martin O’Neill stressing his desire to retain Engels after the 2-0 win over Falkirk on Sunday.
There were reports that Engels and his representatives have been left frustrated by Celtic’s handling of the affair.
Arne Engels, scoring in the Europa League for Celtic, was wanted by Nottingham Forest
Martin O’Neill would have been pleased to see the Arne Engels bids rejected
Whilst there is no suggestion that the player will down tools, there is a belief in his camp that £25m represented good value and he would have been keen to hold talks with Forest.
Whilst their recruitment model has broken down over recent months, Celtic sold themselves to Engels as a club where he could develop before being moved on for a profit.
But the goalposts were moved due to the club’s inability to have an adequate replacement lined up in a timely fashion, hence why Forest’s advances were snubbed.
It summed up what has been a chaotic transfer window for the Parkhead club, who last night confirmed the loan signing of striker Junior Adamu from Freiburg.
The 24-year-old Austrian forward has joined until the end of the season, with Celtic holding an option to buy him in the summer.
Celtic were also seeking to renegotiate a loan deal for Lorient winger Joel Mvuka ahead of the transfer window slamming shut.
It was understood that a £3.5m deal for Mvuka was in place, only for an issue to be flagged up in his medical which made Celtic reluctant to fork out any fee.
There were reports that they were also exploring the possibility of a loan deal for former Arsenal, Liverpool and England midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Oxlade-Chamberlain, 32, is currently a free agent and has been training with his former side Arsenal recently as he seeks to find himself a new club.
But he has been plagued by injuries throughout his career and many Celtic fans will view any deal to sign him as hugely underwhelming and typical of their club’s recent business.
Celtic also confirmed a loan deal to sign 20-year-old Brentford defender Benjamin Arthur.
In terms of their other business, Celtic shipped striker Johnny Kenny out on loan to Bolton for the remainder of the season.
