Arne Engels has been a hot topic among Celtic supporters as the midfielder continues to develop under the stewardship of Brendan Rodgers.
Statistically, the Belgium international has enjoyed a productive introduction to life in Scottish football, registering three goals and six assists in 16 appearances.
Unfortunately, Arne Engels’ record £11 million Celtic price tag was always going to set a higher bar of expectation for him than others. That is just the reality of the Parkhead pressure cooker, for better or worse.
Yesterday, Brendan Rodgers urged people writing off Engels to ‘learn their lesson’ and cited the examples of Paulo Bernardo and Nicolas Kuhn’s development over recent months to justify giving young players time to settle.
While prodigious talent taking a while to fully develop is hardly a new phenomenon, Chris Sutton has hammered home why some of the sentiments surrounding the man in question have been unwarranted.
Chris Sutton nails the Arne Engels situation at Celtic
Writing in his Daily Record column, Sutton rightfully pointed out that Engels needs to be cut a bit of slack as he adapts to a whole new culture of football, while he also made the point that the Belgian’s price tag doesn’t exclude him from being a prospect with room to grow.
He explained: “Engels is still a development player. I get the might be hard for some fans to get their heads around, but it’s the truth. Speaking to people who had watched him in Germany, it was clear Engels has talent and is a huge prospect.
“But that is all he is right now – a prospect. He’s just a higher level of prospect than Celtic are perhaps used to. In terms of comparisons, it’s a deal closer to the one that brought Odsonne Edouard to Glasgow for £9m. It’s a lot of money in Scottish terms, but it’s still an investment in potential.
I’ve got no doubt Engels will realise that potential at Parkhead as well. It’s not like he’s been hopeless. Far from it. There’s been a lot of good stuff in his first few months at the club. He has really looked the part in some of the European games in particular. He’s already a Belgian full international.
“There are still some rough edges – but there are going to be. Engels has just turned 21; he’s a young lad trying to adapt to a new country.”
Give Arne Engels time at Celtic and he will flourish
Strictly speaking, it isn’t as if Celtic have a lack of quality options in midfield, so there are players to come in and supplement Engels if he does have a spell lacking consistency.
Nevertheless, there is a lot to love about his all-action style of play in midfield, which is accompanied by sweet delivery potential from set-pieces more often than not.
Finding superstars isn’t a linear process. If Celtic had the capability to buy the world’s finest players without breaking a sweat, they would do without a moment’s hesitation.
However, the club doesn’t live in that reality, and neither does most of the football world. Give Engels time to harness the key facets of his game. Later down the line, you won’t be disappointed.
