Arne Engels: West Ham United break record to sign £22m Celtic midfielder

Engels is West Ham’s fourth summer signing after the recruitment of Venezuela midfielder Keiber Lamadrid, Dutch defender Joel Veltman and Israel winger Manor Solomon.

West Ham director of player recruitment Nils Koppen told the club website:, external “Arne is a player we have been tracking for some time as a key target.

“For a player who is still very young with his best years in front of him, he has very good experience and has established himself at a big club, showing consistency and confidence.

“Arne has the right traits, both as a player and as a character, to fit into what we are trying to build moving forward. He is very motivated to be here for this challenge.”

Engels, who has made four appearances for Belgium, won back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles with Celtic after arriving from Augsburg in August 2024, having begun his career at Club Brugge.

“It’s a really nice project to come into,” he said. “To try to go back to the Premier League. That’s the big goal.

“It’s just up to me to hopefully help the team with it and together with the supporters to get some wins. Hopefully it’s going to be a good year.”