O'Neill: Celtic Paying Price for Failing to Replace Midfielder

Martin O'Neill believes Celtic are now counting the cost of not replacing Arne Engels, despite knowing since January that the midfielder was set to move on. The Belgian was the subject of substantial bids from Nottingham Forest at the turn of the year.

While Celtic resisted selling Engels in that window, they ultimately agreed to let him depart for West Ham in the summer for £22 million without having secured a replacement. Engels’ absence has been acutely felt, with Celtic experiencing early exits from the Champions League to LASK, a heavy defeat against Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup, and a loss to Ferencvaros in the Europa League.

The Parkhead club attempted to sign Gvidas Gineitis from Torino in the closing days of the transfer window, but the move failed to materialize. O'Neill acknowledged that this lack of recruitment has left the team short in a key area.

"I think that in an ideal world, it would have been greater to have the likes of Arne Engels and that type of running power," O'Neill stated. "And that’s really what we were trying to do when we knew that Arne was going to leave. So, it didn’t materialise, but that’s something that we would certainly have to look at."

O'Neill added, "Arne, I always felt he was going to be leaving anyway. Trying to get a like for like, we looked at a number of players who could do that. For one reason or another, it didn’t materialise. So yeah, he’s been a loss in terms of that running power he can give you."

Ahead of the first league meeting of the season with Rangers at Parkhead, O'Neill emphasized that the acquisition of a replacement for Engels must be a top priority when the January transfer window opens.

"You’d have to. Very much so," he said when asked about prioritizing a midfield signing. "January seems a million miles away, but it comes round relatively quickly. You’d have to do something like that there."

Celtic welcomed 10 new faces over the summer through loans and permanent signings. Despite an initially promising start, the club has since suffered three significant defeats. The manager is still working to determine the best formation to suit the available players.

O'Neill explained that the summer recruitment drive was not necessarily tied to a specific formation, but rather the need for strong, running players. "If you’re going to play whatever system you want, you need strong running players in your side. You definitely need that there. You need a bit of strength."

He noted that a lack of these qualities was apparent last season. "That was something that I thought was lacking from last season. You’re trying to get the right person in to do that and sometimes you get frustrated in the transfer market if it doesn’t materialise," he said. "But that’s really something that didn’t necessarily mean fitting just one system, it just meant players being able to play whatever you do."

"Really, for all of us talking about this and thinking that we’re in this modern era, it is about players being able to break systems down," O'Neill continued, drawing a parallel to a recent match involving Manchester United.

"I watched Manchester United (against Brighton) the other night, who were 2-0 up and coasting, and allowing a team to come back into the game because they make mistakes at the back that you wouldn’t be expecting Premier League teams to do."