Arne Engels: I’ve ‘coped really well’ with first season at Celtic

Arne Engels insists he is comfortable with the intense scrutiny of his performances since he became Celtic’s record signing last summer.

The Belgium midfielder joined the Scottish champions for £11 million from Augsburg in August and has featured regularly for Brendan Rodgers’ treble-chasing side.

Engels has chipped in with 10 goals and a string of assists but has not always been the subject of favourable reviews from supporters.

Asked how he had handled the tougher moments he has faced in his time in Glasgow, the 21-year-old told Celtic’s official podcast: “I think quite okay. I don’t read a lot so that’s a good point that I’m not really watching those things on the internet.

“I know what I’m doing, I’m still a young player and it’s my first season here. I still need to work on things and also settle in.

“Now I’m really settled in and I know everything and everything is going well off the pitch. But I think I coped really well with it and I wasn’t really stressing because I was believing in my own qualities.

“That’s also a good point of me, that I’m not really thinking about the bad things every time, but also knowing my qualities and abilities, that I’m capable of trying to do something and trying to get an assist or a goal.

“I hope that I can help the team a little bit more with those things and I’m sure I will.”

Engels has enjoyed his first season at Celtic so far and is intent on capping it with a domestic treble.

“I love it, actually,” he said. “The winning mentality is something that suits me really well and I was looking forward to.

“There are still two more things to win and everybody is really focused on that. It’s about winning and that’s what we love to do.

“But about the season, everything has gone really smoothly and good. Of course, it was my first season so there were a lot of ups and downs.

“But I think there were a lot of ups also and we just need to think about those and not only about one or two months that it was a bit less.

“That’s how it is, especially at a big club like this when you need to perform every week and every game.

“I’m just looking forward to ending this season really well and in a really good way and hopefully win some more.”