Celtic have rejected a third bid from Nottingham Forest for midfielder Arne Engels, worth up to £25m.

The Premier League club wants to pay Engels £20 million guaranteed, with an additional £5 million.

Celtic considered an offer for the club’s record signing but ultimately rejected the offer. They had previously rejected Forest’s previous two offers for the 22-year-old, with the previous offer being £17.3m.

Celtic have no plans to sell Engel in this window and manager Martin O’Neill said on Sunday he expected the club to reject any offers.

Engels signed from Augsburg in August 2024 for £11 million. He has two and a half years left on his contract with Celtic.

Analysis: Celtic hope latest rejection ends Forest’s pursuit of Engels

sky sports news Anthony Joseph:

Celtic made it clear to Nottingham Forest this morning that Engels will not be sold in this window, but Forest are entering an area where the Hoops will have to consider things more seriously. However, they hope the latest rejection will temporarily end Forest’s pursuit.

An offer worth £25m was rejected but Hoops bosses did think about it for a while compared to when the first and second offers came in.

The problem for the Celtics is that they haven’t found a replacement for Engels.

Elsewhere, Martin O’Neill said he expected any bid for Engels to be rejected, but joked the board would step in if they received an offer of £100m.

It’s not £100m, but it’s close to Celtic’s sales record.

Engels played 37 games for the Celtics this season. He has scored 5 goals and provided 7 assists. The Belgium international is an integral part of the team.

With time running out to find a replacement, Celtic could have a tough decision to make if Forest increase their £25m offer.