Celtic supporters are still licking their wounds after a rare, shock defeat but fear not, for Brendan Rodgers’ side still virtually have two hands wrapped around the Premiership title.
On Saturday lunchtime, the Hoops were beaten 2-1 by Hibernian at Easter Road, a goal down inside two minutes, unable to fight back.
The match was not without its controversy, given that Daizen Maeda had a late equaliser disallowed by VAR, who adjudged that the ball had gone out of play, even though all the replays are, at best, inconclusive.
This Celtic side is certainly strong, but how good would they be had they not let a player go, who’s now being touted as one of the best in the Premier League south of the border?
He’s remarkably now better than the club’s record-signing too..
Arne Engles’ debut Celtic season in numbers
Back on deadline day in August, Celtic signed midfielder Arne Engels from Augsburg for a reported £11m, breaking their club-record transfer fee in the process, with the Belgian recruited to be Matt O’Riley’s replacement.
The price tag meant ‘an extra layer of expectation rests on the midfielder’s shoulders’, as outlined by Joe Donnelly of the Glasgow Times, leading to Engels making a mixed start to life in hoops.
However, more recently, former Scotland forward James McFadden labelled him “a class act”, with Graeme McGarry of the Herald exclaiming that Engels had a ‘coming of age’ performance in the Champions League against Bayern Munich.
Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout adds he “could easily play for a strong club in the top five leagues”, with Engels taking his tally to nine goals and ten assists for the season, thanks to a brace against Dundee earlier this month.
So, the Belgian has certainly started to impress, but is a former Celtic midfielder, now plying his trade in the Premier League, out-shining him?
Former Celtic midfielder starring in the Premier League
A certain Ryan Christie joined Celtic for a reported fee of £500,000 in September 2015, and this certainly proved money well spent, considering he scored 42 goals and provided 44 assists in 151 appearances for the club, winning seven major honours.
He then departed for £2.5m to join Bournemouth, then of the EFL Championship, in the summer of 2021, now earning rave reviews for his performances in the Premier League, currently valued at £10m via Transfermarkt.
Ed Elliot of the Independent labels him one of the ‘stars’ of this high-flying Bournemouth team, while Sky Sports Dave Jones believes he is now one of the most ‘unheralded’ players in the Premier League.
Gregor Robertson of the Times believes him to be the Premier League’s ‘best ball-winner’ and that’s certainly proven by the numbers.
|
Christie’s Premier League statistics 2024/25 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Statistic |
Christie |
PL rank |
|
Attempted passes |
934 |
83rd |
|
Pass completion % |
80% |
150th |
|
Assists |
3 |
48th |
|
Tackles |
48 |
39th |
|
Tackles won |
30 |
35th |
|
Interceptions |
25 |
34th |
|
Blocks |
40 |
10th |
|
Ball recoveries |
155 |
=1st |
|
All statistics courtesy of FBref.com |
||
The final row of this table is the most-telling, given that Christie’s 155 ball recoveries are the joint-most in the Premier League, alongside Moisés Caicedo, who cost Chelsea a record-breaking £115m, while the Ecuadorian has played 374 more minutes than the Scot.
Alex Keble of the Premier League believes Christie is Bournemouth’s ‘most important player’, with Andoni Iraola having transformed him into a more defensive midfielder.
Arne Engels is much more of a creative, attacking midfielder, akin to how Christie was at Celtic, but the now 30-year-old is, possibly, even better than any Celts supporter may have thought he would ever become.
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