The £11m Celtic paid for Arne Engels is often used to beat the player about the head with.
Arne Engels became Celtic’s most expensive player last season after the huge win on money was spent to bring him to Glasgow from the Bundesliga.
The Belgian absolutely shone for Celtic in the Champions League and domestically as he banged in 10 goals and 11 assists, which included important penalties for the Bhoys against the likes of Hearts.
Despite that, Engels’ time at Celtic has been criticised and it’s mainly because of the money Celtic paid for the classy midfielder.
And after sitting in on the Celtic fan meeting with the board this week, ACSOM’s Paul John Dykes now knows exactly why Celtic overpaid for Engels.
Two people who ‘are responsible’ for Celtic overpaying for players
The fan meeting with the Celtic board was a real eye opener for many. But for Paul John, it spelled out to him exactly why the club are being mugged in the transfer window.
Paul John said on A Celtic State of Mind, “My issue is this.
“We were in a room with the two guys that do the negotiating. We were in the room with the two guys that do the deals and they justified it. They justified it.
“It was Chris McKay who justified it by saying, ‘I’m a finance guy, he’s [Michael Nicholson] a contracts guy. Who else would you like to go and do your deals for you?’
“Right? Seriously, I mean, this is the attitude. We have the two best guys in the room?
“And I’m sitting down and thinking to myself, I wouldn’t send you for my shopping. I wouldn’t trust you to put my bin out on a Thursday. Seriously.
“That’s the confidence I’ve got in these two guys, right? Now people can shoot me down. They might think I’m a rubbish podcaster.
“That’s fair enough. Well, they go in to do the deal, right? And they’ve confirmed that we do the deal.
We go in and we do the deal. Right. Okay.
That’s great. That’s the reason we’re overpaying for players, because those two could not negotiate their way out of paperback.”
Why Celtic didn’t pay £8m for Arne Engels
After witnessing Nicholson and McKay’s attitude. Paul John is convinced they are the reason Celtic get stung in the transfer market for huge fees.
Paul John continued, “So let’s say, Arne Engels was worth £8m and you’re going into that negotiation saying, look, we want to pay £8m, but we’ll go to £9m. If you’re not a good negotiator, they’ll get £11m out of you. That’s what’s happened.
“And that’s what’s happened with a lot of players in my view, Alan. This is based on what I’ve seen on Monday. I went into that meeting with low expectations, and they absolutely exceeded the depth of those expectations.”
Nicholson’s reputation has taken a bit of a battering this week and it looks like the Celtic CEO could be fighting for his life at the club.