Celtic Decline Nottingham Forest's £17m Bid for Arne Engels

Celtic have turned down a £17 million offer from Nottingham Forest for Belgian midfielder Arne Engels.

Forest initially submitted a £14 million bid for the 22-year-old, which was rejected, followed by a second offer of £17 million that was also declined.

Engels transferred to Celtic from German club Augsburg in August 2024 for a fee of £11 million.

Since joining, he has made 89 appearances across all competitions for the Glasgow-based club and contributed to their Scottish Premiership and League Cup victories last season.

Manager Comments on Transfer Speculation

Interim manager Martin O'Neill responded to questions about Forest's bid after Celtic's 2-0 victory over Falkirk on Sunday.

"Honestly, I am telling you, I didn't know anything about it,"

"If they have, then they must have done it during the game. And I would want it rebuffed, unless it was £100m.

Then I think the board would step in there. No, absolutely, I would rather keep him."

Current Team Status and Future Plans

Both Celtic and Nottingham Forest are preparing for the Europa League play-offs scheduled for this month.

O'Neill mentioned that Celtic are close to securing two new signings.

In the Scottish Premiership, Celtic sit second, six points behind leaders Heart of Midlothian, while Nottingham Forest occupy 17th place in the Premier League standings.