Celtic in record transfer talks: Engels to West Ham promises huge fee

31 Jul 2026 11:53 BST | 4 min read

Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

Accredited football journalist and editor covering the game since 2006

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Celtic are in transfer talks with West Ham over a deal for midfielder Arne Engels, who has long been linked with an exit from the Parkhead giants.

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The Hoops turned down a lucrative January offer from Nottingham Forest for the Belgium international, but though the Premier League side have maintained their interest this summer, they have turned their attentions elsewhere.

West Ham, meanwhile, are accelerating to sign the 22-year-old, with Sky Sports indicating that talks are picking up on the eve of Martin O’Neill’s side beginning their defence of the Scottish Premiership title.

Current ETV

Arne Engels

M, DM (C)

Celtic

Arne Engels

M, DM (C)

Celtic

ETV Range

€12.9M - €15.8M

Celtic reject £25m offer

Engels has reportedly switched agents this summer in a bid to push through an exit from Celtic, where he has played since arriving from Augsburg.

As well as West Ham, interest has also come from Sunderland and Fulham in the Premier League. Elsewhere, there have been links with Lazio, Milan, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund.

Such speculation has fuelled Celtic’s hopes of a record transfer fee for Engels, who still has two years to run on his contract at Parkhead.

He has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of £12.3m (€14.4m), but the Scottish champions hope that the Belgian will be able to attract a fee in excess of the £25m (€29.5m) they earned when Matt O’Riley was sold to Brighton in a deal that prompted Celtic to bring Engels to the club.

Forest had an offer worth £25m knocked back in Germany, offering a clear benchmark of what the Celtic board expect for a player who delivered seven goals and eight assists last term.

© IMAGO - Matt O'Riley: Celtic's record sale

Engels deal to kickstart Celtic’s transfer market

Should Engels be sold, Celtic will need to enter the market for a replacement.

The Hoops’ transfer business this summer has been frustratingly slow, though they have at least moved to address a key weakness in their side up front. Kasper Hogh has arrived from Bodo/Glimt while Camilo Duran has joined from Qarabag. This duo will act as a like-for-like replacement for Daizen Maeda and Kelechi Iheanacho.

With the start of Celtic’s Premiership defence looming when they host Dundee on Monday, but more pertinently their push for Champions League football just a matter of weeks away, the transfer activity in Glasgow’s East End must pick up – and Engels’ exit could act as the catalyst.

Likely targets to replace the Belgian include Gvidas Gineitis of Torino and Brondby's Benjamin Tahirovic, both of whom have been linked with a move to Glasgow.