Celtic look to have missed out on a potential Arne Engels successor following their Champions League playoff defeat at the hands of LASK. The Glasgow giants are set to lose out on a new playmaker, with PAOK leading the race for Partizan Belgrade's Ognjen Ugrešić.
Record summer spending not enough for Europe
The Hoops have already shattered their transfer record this summer on £11m signing Kasper Hogh from Bodo/Glimt - having splashed £6m to take Camilo Duran from Qarabag in their first signing of the summer.
Egypt World Cup star Haissem Hassan has also arrived on a deal that could eventually rise to £10m, which was followed less by the £6.8m arrival of Paderborn midfielder Mika Baur. However, it wasn't enough to secure a spot in Europe's elite competition - despite leading the Austrian champions 4-0 on aggregate at one stage during the tie.
Engels replacement heads to Greece
The failure to replace Arne Engels after his £22million move to West Ham has been mentioned as a factor in the Linz collapse. And his potential replacement, Partizan Belgrade playmaker Ognjen Ugrešić, looks to be moving to PAOK over a switch to Glasgow's east end.
According to Partizan president Rasim Ljajic, Celtic offered £400k more than the Greek side in a package that would have reached almost £7m - but it has been turfed out.
Ljajic, a former Serbian deputy Prime Minister, told Mozzartsport: “It is true that Celtic came forward and offered more than PAOK, that 500,000 euros difference would mean a lot to us, in the situation Partizan is in, because in the current circumstances it is a significant amount of money.
“We gave our word to the people from PAOK and for no moment did we want to damage the fraternal relations between the clubs, which for us is much more important than the profit we would make from the potential transfer of Ugrešić to Scotland.”
Agent's praise for Ugrešić
His agent previously told Nemzeti Sport: “His style is similar to Jude Bellingham or to some extent Paul Pogba. His technique is exceptional, but he also has speed, despite his height. He plays behind the strikers, has good vision, participates in actions, is intelligent.”
Celtic's failure to land Ugrešić leaves them without a direct replacement for Engels, with the club's European exit already raising questions about their summer recruitment strategy.
