Nottingham Forest fail with bids for Celtic and Middlesbrough midfielders

ovanews 8 months ago 2 min read

Nottingham Forest have had bids for Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney and Celtic’s Arne Engels rejected on transfer deadline day.

Sean Dyche wants to bring in another midfielder after Douglas Luiz’s loan was cut short, with the Brazilian signing for Aston Villa.

Forest have seen an offer in the region of €20m (£17.3m) turned down for Celtic’s Engels. The 22-year-old has five goals and five assists for Celtic in all competitions this season and has won four caps for Belgium at international level.

Celtic boss Martin O’Neil said he had not been informed of the bid but added he’d want £100m to part with the midfielder before the deadline.

“Honestly, I am telling you, I didn’t know anything about it,” O’Neill said when asked about Forest’s bid following Celtic’s 2-0 win over Falkirk on Sunday.

“If they have, then they must have done it during the game. And I would want it rebuffed, unless it was £100m. Then I think the board would step in there. No, absolutely, I would rather keep him.”

Forest have also had an offer rejected for Hackney. Sky Sports have revealed an unspecified bid has been rejected with Middlesbrough keen to keep the player as the club push for promotion from the Premier League. Hackney has 18 months remaining on his contract at the Riverside.

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