Gifted Celtic player Ange let go for £0, is now outscoring Engels and McGregor

As Matt O’Riley packed his bags for Brighton at the end of the transfer window, Celtic fans may have been anticipating the worst for the upcoming season, with the Old Firm giants losing such a vital figure in the heart of the midfield.

The former MK Dons playmaker was simply superb in 2023/24, scoring 19 goals and providing 18 assists in just 49 appearances across all competitions, bringing his total for the club to 62 goals and 124 assists.

A £25 million talent is difficult to replace, especially at a fraction of the cost, but the Hoops appear to have recruited effectively to fill that creative hole.

To use a phrase from Moneyball, Brendan Rodgers and co look to have replaced the Denmark international ‘in the aggregate’ rather than with a single buy, bringing in three permanent reinforcements in those offensive midfield positions in the form of Luke McCowan, Paulo Bernardo, and Arne Engels.

Despite a rocky performance away at Ross County last time out, in which the Belgian was hooked after an hour as the visitors trailed, Engels has had a very strong start to life in Glasgow.

Arne Engels’ start at Celtic

As previously noted, the former Augsburg sensation, who signed for a club record £11 million in the wake of O’Riley’s departure, was far from his best last time out, squandering possession on 15 occasions in an anonymous performance.

However, after only seven games for the club, the 21-year-old has a promising return of two goals and three assists in all competitions – a good start to repaying that big transfer fee.

Engels’ five goal involvements place him alongside the likes of Alistair Johnston and Callum McGregor in Celtic’s ranks, with the club captain excelling in the midfield with four goals and one assist so far.

Only Kyogo Furuhashu (six goal involvements), Daizen Maeda (eight goal involvements), and Nicolas Kuhn (14 goal involvements) have contributed to more goals for the team thus far, demonstrating how efficient Engels and McGregor have been in the centre of the park.

Their record, however, is being matched or bettered by a former Parkhead star who is currently shining away from the club after being allowed to depart on a free transfer by Ange Postecoglou.

Olivier Ntcham’s season so far

Olivier Ntcham was described as “highly gifted” and a player who “has everything” by Rodgers upon his arrival at Celtic Park from Manchester City in 2017, and he went on to enjoy a remarkable four-year stay at the club, winning nine domestic championships in all.

After scoring 37 goals and assisting in 124 games for the club across all competitions, the Cameroon international decided to leave in the summer of 2021, having previously spent a half-season on loan at Ligue 1 side Marseille.

Despite Postecoglou’s insistence that Ntcham intended to stay in Glasgow, the midfielder left after his contract expired and joined Swansea City in England’s second division.

That period provided 18 goals in 82 appearances, but the 28-year-old has finally found his feet at current club Samsunspor, having arrived in Turkey in 2023.

Since then, the French-born maestro has ten goals and one assist in 35 games, particularly in the season’s early stages.