Martin O’Neill revealed the Celtic board alone turned down the “really tempting” bid of up to £25m for Arne Engels, as he admitted speaking to out-of-contract Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The Parkhead club signed 24-year-old Austria striker Junior Adamu from Bundesliga club Freiburg, 20-year-old Brentford centre-half Benjamin Arthur and 23-year-old Lorient winger Joel Mvuka, all on loan and all on transfer deadline day.
Meanwhile, the Celtic board, subject to ongoing and scathing criticism from a significant section of the fans about its leadership, rejected three bids for 22-year-old Belgium midfielder Engels.
Sky Sports News confirmed Premier League club Nottingham Forest wanted to pay a guaranteed fee of £20m with £5m in add-ons.
Speaking before the second-placed Hoops travel to Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday night, live on Sky Sports, O’Neill said: “For here that’s an awful lot of money. It’s an awful lot of money.
“Personally, I’m delighted that the board turned it down. It’s really tempting and it’s come at a very, very late stage, I must admit. So real great credit to them.
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“He didn’t kick up a fuss about it either, even though it’s come in late.
“And of course, it’s tempting, it’s really big money for here.
“But they [board] didn’t take the bait, and so naturally I’m really pleased and we can look at things in the summer time.
“Obviously life changes but that was a major statement.”
Engels was the subject of a failed bid from Nottingham Forest
Asked if the board spoke to him about the Engels offer, the Northern Irishman said: “No, absolutely not. Not at all.
“No, they turned it down before telling me. I was asked the question on Sunday [about the first bid after the Falkirk
game]. I genuinely didn’t know anything about it.
“But I think that the offer had come in from Nottingham Forest, Michael (Nicholson, chairman) was telling me, I think, it came in about 4.55pm.
“Honestly, I genuinely didn’t know anything about it, just in case you thought I was telling a lot of fibs.”
O’Neill keen on Oxlade-Chamberlain after talks
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O’Neill confirms he has held talks with former Arsenal and Liverpool player Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is a free agent
Despite the transfer window in Scotland closing at 11pm on Monday night, players who are free agents can still be signed.
O’Neill was open about his interest in Oxlade-Chamberlain, the 32-year-old former Arsenal and Liverpool forward whose last club was Besiktas in Turkey, whom he left last summer.
Asked if the 35-times capped England player was someone he liked, the Celtic boss said: “I do. I genuinely do. Yes. He has trained at Arsenal for some time since his time in Turkey.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has been training with former club Arsenal since leaving Turkey
“Spoke to him but I’m sure he’ll have lots of options maybe closer to London as well too. But he was very affable, I must admit.
“I would be very interested in doing it, but I’m surprised that people haven’t taken him closer to the area and he’s telling me he’s training with Arsenal for quite some considerable time.
“And so in terms of fitness, it’s not match fitness, but it’s fine. We’ll see. And listen, he’s got loads of options.
“I think he was very excited about what we were saying. He knows about the football club. He’s a big friend of Joe Hart and Joe’s spoken to him. Not on our behalf. It was just a conversation with Joe. But listen, it’s fine.
“It is something that would be interesting but if it doesn’t materialise, it doesn’t materialise.”
