ARNE ENGELS and Luke McCowan arrived at Celtic within hours of each other on deadline day.
The Belgian international playmaker cost a club record £11million when he was recruited from Bundesliga side Augsburg.
That historic fee was ELEVEN times more than the cash paid for McCowan who was signed from Dundee an hour or so before the transfer cut-off as the window closed until next month.
The new Bhoys made their Hoops debuts in the 3-0 romp against Phillipe Clement’s shell-shocked Ibrox outfit in the east end of Glasgow a couple of days later as they came on six minutes of each other with Engels replacing Paulo Bernardo while the Scot came on for Reo Hatate.
Coincidentally, they both scored their first goals for the champions a fortnight later in the 2-0 home win over Hearts.
MAN IN THE MIDDLE…all-action Luke McCowan bursts between Dons duo Sivert Nilsen and Leighton Clarkson in Celtic’s 1-0 win at Pittodrie.
It was McCowan, though, who got the nod to enter the fray at storm-lashed Pittodrie in midweek when he came on for Bernardo with the game deadlocked at 0-0 against a determined Aberdeen outfit.
The £1million man played his part in the visitors taking control with Hatate firing in the 78th-minute winner as Brendan Rodgers’ men powered seven points ahead of the north-east club with a game in hand.
Engels made his appearance 10 minutes later when he replaced the goalscorer as the Hoops kept a grip on proceedings.
McCowan is turning out to be the surprise packet of the season and former Celtic striker Chris Sutton admitted he believed the 26-year-old had done enough in the 5-0 win over Ross County four days earlier to get a starting berth against Jimmy Thelin’s team.
The one-time Parkhead goal hero said: “I thought Luke McCowan was a little hard done by not starting against Aberdeen on the back of his display against County.
“The midfielder couldn’t have done much more than score and create another three goals, even if the opposition were not up to much.
“When he got the chance to come on at Pittodrie he made a real impact.
BIG DEAL…£11million man Arne Engels will battle for a first-team place.
“It says a lot when the club’s record signing doesn’t even get on the pitch [until the 88th minute]and no-one bats an eyelid.
“The Arne Engels situation is interesting, with the Belgian being taken out of the firing line at Aberdeen.”
Sutton, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “It might just be Rodgers is giving him a chance to catch his breath after a couple of tough games where it didn’t happen for him.
“I’ve seen fans saying he’s now FIFTH choice midfielder, with McCowan jumping ahead of him in the pecking order.
“I don’t see it that way – and I doubt Rodgers does, either. He won’t really have a pecking order. It will be more about who is suited to each game on any given day.
“There’s no doubt McCowan has thrown himself right into the mix. Reo Hatate scored a very good goal the other night, but I don’t think it was a great performance in general.
“It was a bit of a surprise Paulo Bernardo was the one who went off rather than him, but it paid off in the end.
CLAP HANDS…Alistair Johnston leads the applause at Pittodrie with Arne Engels (extreme left), Cameron Carter-Vickers, Viljama Sinisalo, Anthony Ralston, Kyogo Furuhashi and Like McCowan joining in.
“Celtic are ticking over pretty smoothly right now. Brendan Rodgers can rotate and it doesn’t affect the quality of the team. That’s a strong position to be in and the big reason why it’s hard to see anyone catching them this season.
“Those are the kinds of victories [against Dons]that win titles. Celtic were not quite at their best, but they were never going to be in such difficult circumstances, with howling wind and freezing rain.
“It wasn’t a night for the faint-hearted – yet Celtic found a way.
“To be seven points clear of Aberdeen and 11 ahead of Rangers at this stage is massive.
“There is a long way to go, but it’s hard to see how they can be stopped.”
*DON’T miss the unbeatable match report from Celtic v Hibs at Parkhead this afternoon – only in your champion CQN.
