Arne Engels responds to Atalanta transfer link as Celtic future addressed
Arne Engels has shrugged off speculation linking him with Atalanta by insisting he’s loving life at Celtic.
The Italians are reportedly weighing up a summer swoop for the Belgium midfielder.
But Record Sport understands the Hoops are in no rush to sell after forking out a club record £11million to land Engels from Augsburg last August.
Engels, 21, says he isn’t aware of interest from the Champions League-bound Serie A outfit as he focuses on tomorrow’s Scottish Cup Final.
He said: “No, not really, I didn’t read it, so it’s the first time that I’ve heard about it. There will always be something to write or to talk about and if you have a good season and hopefully win a lot of things, then there will always be clubs and always be speculation around a lot of players.
“I think I am not the only one here that will have speculation in the summer. I’m just focused here now on the next game and it’s a really big one and then in the summer I only want to get better.”
Engels has registered 10 goals and 13 assists in an impressive debut campaign at Parkhead.
But the four-time capped star knows there’s still huge room for improvement next season.
The Belgian said: “Yes, 100 per cent. There is always a lot of things to get better on and also as a team we still lost some games and we don’t want to lose any games next year.
“I think there will be a lot of work in the summer that we need to do and we need to get better in that we can have hopefully a better season next year.
“It’s a big thing to go into Europe and to do really well there and hopefully we can compete for all the trophies again like we did this year and we will see where we end.”
Engels only checked into Celtic Park on deadline day last summer and the playmaker is looking forward to a full pre-season under Brendan Rodgers.
He said: “Yes, of course, if you settle in really well, then you are more relaxed and you are more aware of everything that you need to do, and hopefully that will be the case next year.
“You never know how it is. It’s up to me to work hard into the summer and then we will see where we are. But yeah, it’s a big aim for me to do better than this year.
“I know I did well this year, but I also want to do even better next year and make a lot of steps in my football career.”
The ex-Club Brugge starlet stands on the brink of Treble-winning history if Celts overcome Aberdeen at Hampden.
Engels has already lifted the title and Premier Sports Cup and says the chance to win silverware and make history is why he joined the Scottish champions.
He said: “100 per cent. It would be amazing to do that, to accomplish that and it was of course a big thing to come here and to win trophies and to be able to hopefully win three trophies in the end would be an amazing feeling.
“It would be a perfect season for me to start here. So yeah, that would be really nice.”
Engels savoured last weekend’s title party as the curtain fell on the Premiership campaign and added: “Now I know the feeling Callum and James have had so often, that if you win something then you want it again and you want that feeling again.
“It’s a special feeling, you cannot really describe it, how it is, how it feels like and that’s why I wanted to come here to feel how it is.
“Now I felt it and I only want to win more and do better and better so there is a big opportunity in the weekend and hopefully I can feel that again.”
