ARNE ENGELS has somersaulted from battling for safety at Augsburg to chasing honours since his record £11million arrival at Celtic on August deadline day.
The Belgian smooth operatot has already played his part in the Hoops’ fourth successive title and the Premier Sports League Cup and now has his eyes on completing the hat-trick against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden a week on Saturday.
It’s a far cry from life in the Bundesliga where the main aim every season was that of survival.
Now it’s all about silverware and the 21-year-old international playmaker said: “I think you’re trying to get better in every aspect of the game and I’ve done that already.
“You come into a Celtic team that is really dominant and that was not really my case before in Augsburg.
HAMPDEN HURRAHS…Arne Engels (extreme right) applauds as Paulo Bernardo holds aloft the newly-won Premier Sports League Cup trophy in mid-December.
“Now you come here, you are the dominant team and need to win. That’s a different thing and you need to play a bit different than what you’re used to.
“I adapted really well, I think, and I’m making a lot of progress with a lot of things.”
Asked if he had been surprised on the relentless demands on a Hoops player, Engels, speaking to Celtic TV, answered: “No, I expected it.
“It’s also a reason why I wanted to come here, because you’re expected to win.
“Also to play for trophies, for the league, it’s something different and I wanted to experience that because it’s a totally different mentality to other teams.
“I also wanted to add that to my bank and to show that I had that, so it was a reason to come here.”
Engels is now preparing for the penultimate Premiership encounter of the season at Pittodrie tomorrow night before Flag Day in the east end of Glasgow on Saturday when St Mirren provide the opposition.
It will be the midfielder’s first league medal and he hopes to add to that a week later in the Scottish Cup Final as the curtain comes down on a momentous season for the gifted youngster.
