Martin O’Neill was resolute he wanted the Belgium midfielder to stay after the initial £14m offer was tossed out
Nottingham Forest are testing the resolve of Celtic as they fired in a second bid for Arne Engels worth £17.3million.
Martin O’Neill was resolute that he wanted the midfielder to stay after the initial £14m offer was tossed out on Sunday but now the Premier League strugglers are back in for the Belgium international.
The Irishman joked he would reject £100m for him but this latest offer is sure to test Celtic’s resolve for a player they broke their own transfer record for in an £11m deal from Augsburg in August 2024.
Celtic have been linked with midfielders this window with Niko Sigur from Hadjuk Split a long-term target.
Meanwhile, Determined Joel Mvuka will join Celtic in a £3million deal on deadline day and in doing so he looks to rediscover his sizzling form from his Bodo/Glimt days.
The Lorient winger has toiled in French football but is now on the brink of a new lease of life in Glasgow where he once was a late substitute for the Norwegian upstarts in their 3-1 win in the Conference League triumph four years ago.
Mvuka will sign for Celtic on Monday alongside Junior Adamu who will arrive in a loan deal.
Former Bodo players have come under criticism for their inability to recreate their stellar form once they leave the Arctic Circle under the tutelage of revered boss Kjetil Knutsen.
The outlier is Victor Boniface with the striker a key contributor for Xabi Alonso’s wildly successful Bayer Leverkusen side.
Analytics FC crunched the numbers of a series of players who ripped it up at Bodo but struggled mightily to have the same impact elsewhere. Mvuka, along with the likes of Jens Petter Hauge and Patrick Berg, were put under the microscope.
And the conclusion is those players need to be at clubs where they are in possession-heavy systems – with Mvuka cited as someone who gets better in games where he is relied upon to be the focal point of the attack.
Now he will get his chance in Glasgow as he aims to put three years of frustrations behind him as he pens a long-term deal in Glasgow.
Auston Trusty has admirers in Serie A but appears set to stay and Stephen Welsh is primed for a return to Motherwell if Celtic can get another central defender in before the window closes.
Elsewhere, David Datro Fofana won’t be leaving Chelsea on a permanent deal after all as he heads to Strasbourg on loan until the end of the season. He was linked earlier in the window.
