Nottingham Forest transfer news: Arne Engels bid of £25m lodged for Celtic midfielder on deadline day
Nottingham Forest have stepped up their pursuit of Celtic midfielder Arne Engels on deadline day with a £25m bid; Forest have seen two previous offers for the 22-year-old rejected; Celtic weighing up bid for their club-record signing
Monday 2 February 2026 17:28, UK
Nottingham Forest have made a third bid for Celtic midfielder Arne Engels worth up to £25m.
The Premier League club want to pay a guaranteed fee of £20m for Engels with £5m in add-ons.
Celtic are believed to be mulling over the offer for their club-record signing. They rejected Forest's first two bids for the 22-year-old, with the previous offer £17.3m.
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Celtic have had no plans to sell Engel in this window and on Sunday boss Martin O'Neill said he hoped the club would rebuff any offers.
Engels was signed from Augsburg for £11m in August 2024. He has two and a half years left on his contract with Celtic.
Analysis: Forest bid will be tempting for Celtic
Sky Sports News' Anthony Joseph:
Celtic made it clear to Nottingham Forest that Engels was not for sale in this window, but a bid worth £25m changes things dramatically.
They hoped that rejecting the second bid £17.3m this morning would make Forest move on to other targets.
They did - for a few hours. But after being knocked back by Middlesbrough in a pursuit for Hayden Hackney, they've turned to testing Celtic's resolve again.
Martin O'Neill said he would expect any bids for Engels to be rebuffed, but joked the board would intervene if they received an offer of £100m.
This isn't £100m, but it's nearing the territory of Celtic's record sales.
Engels has played 37 games for Celtic this season. He has scored five goals and provided seven assists. The Belgium international is an integral part of the team.
With so little time left in the window to find a replacement, Celtic have been left with a difficult decision to make.
