Interim manager Martin O'Neill has sang the praises of Celtic midfielder Arne Engels.
The Belgian missed out on a winter transfer to English Premier League club Nottingham Forest and has been linked with Lazio of Serie A in recent days.
Engels, who made his first start since sustaining a thigh injury in February against St Mirren last Sunday, has 'proper potential', according to O'Neill.
"I kind of get pleased about it, really," O'Neill said of the reported transfer interest in Engels. "Because we've brought him back.
"I don't think he played games under Brendan [Rodgers]. He's come back, and he's done fine. But it's not taking reflective glory or anything like that.
"I want him to reach what I think he's got: proper potential. That's the point.
"He's athletic. He's got those things. He's got a great shot. But for midfield players, you want to be a goalscorer.
"He can play the number six role. And I think that at times, if anything happened to Callum [McGregor], perhaps Arne might be the first one to drop in there.
"But now that Alex [Oxlade-Chamberlain] is here, he can move forward a bit."
Since joining Celtic for a club-record £11million transfer fee from Augsburg in the summer of 2024, Engels has registered 92 appearances across all competitions. Of his five goals this season, just two have come from open play.
"I said to him [Engels], midfield players, you've got to get on the half turn," O'Neill explained. "You've got to see the picture. And to know when there's space behind you, that you can actually pick the ball up.
"You don't be playing everything back. Midfield players are supposed to get turned with the ball and then scoring goals.
"And once you get into double figures of scoring goals, particularly league goals, then you're worth your weight in gold.
"You've got to keep encouraging him to do it. Because players sometimes, you just fall back into the thing, don't take the risk in the field when the risk is on to take. It's not as big a risk as you think.
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"It's playing the ball too quickly at times when you can run with it. Midfield players have got to be able to pick it up and go 15, 20, 30 yards.
"If the space is there, you've got to drive into it. So those are the things that I would want.
"Perhaps in my own career, it took me a long time to realise this is what managers want.
"And it's as obvious as daylight. You can become a really big player. But by picking it up, if you're tight in a tight situation, of course you lay it back, you give it back.
"But you've got to be thinking, I'll lay it back to get it again because I want to influence the game."
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