Engels 'tells friends' he wants Celtic move, Norwich boss has Idah regrets, latest on O'Riley – Parkhead transfer bulletin

Arne Engels is reported to have told his friends he wants a move to Celtic as the Hoops eye him up as the ideal replacement for Matt O'Riley.

The 20-year-old emerged as a target this week having established himself as one of the most talented young midfielders in the Bundesliga with Augsburg. Valued at £9m by his current club, it would take an investment touching Celtic's transfer record to bring him in, but should O'Riley leave for close to £30m then a good chunk of that fee would be made available to replace him.

On Wednesday Sky Sports reported that Engels would prefer a move to Celtic over other options, like Rennes, with the prospect of Champions League football the deciding factor there. And that squares with a recent report from Football Insider who now claim Engels has even told his friends he wants the move to Parkhead.

That will of course have to wait until O'Riley's future is resolved, but the latest from Italy is that it isn't too far away. The Europa League winners have had five bids (and counting) shown the door with Celtic refusing to be lowballed and demanding a club record fee, or close to it, for their prized asset.

Their latest offer was north of £20m but the Hoops want in the region of £30m for O'Riley. Gazzetta dello Sport report that there is now a difference of €2m (£1.7m) between the clubs - although given their most recent assessment had Atalanta's last bid at €25m (£21.4m), the chasm seems likely to be greater than that.

However they do say the clubs are 'close' to an agreement with O'Riley seen as the main man to replace Teun Koopmeiners, who is on the verge of joining Juventus. It's believed Atalanta are increasingly optimistic over getting a deal done and won't be deterred now, with a sixth