Celtic line up move to sign 18-cap World Cup star

Celtic supporters may have tuned in to watch Daizen Maeda’s Japan secure an impressive draw with Germany in the World Cup on Sunday night.

The Japanese star has one year left on his contract at Parkhead and strong performances at the tournament could increase his chances of securing a move away from Glasgow this summer.

Meanwhile, Arne Engels failed to make the Belgium squad for the World Cup, yet the central midfielder could yet seal a transfer to one of Europe’s major leagues in the coming weeks.

It was recently reported that Premier League side Sunderland have already made contact with the Hoops about a possible move for the star, who would cost a fee of around £22m.

Celtic now face a fight on their hands to keep hold of the former Augsburg star, with teams from across Europe eyeing him up as a potential target.

Celtic interested in deal to sign World Cup midfielder

Engels, who scored in the SFA Cup final against Dunfermline last month, is not irreplaceable, though, and Martin O’Neill could dip into the market to ease the blow of losing him.

In fact, the Northern Irish head coach is already reportedly looking at a star who could come in as an even better option for the club in the middle of the park.

According to The Scottish Sun, Celtic are eyeing up a deal to sign Astana central midfielder Ivan Basic in the summer transfer window to bolster their options in midfield.

The report claims that O’Neill’s side are keeping tabs on his progress at the World Cup with Bosnia, after he played in a 1-1 draw with Canada last week, which was his 18th international cap.

It adds that Basic is being looked at as a potential replacement for Engels, whom they claim has attracted interest from Serie A teams Napoli and Lazio.

However, The Scottish Sun does not reveal how much Astana would demand for their star midfielder should the Hoops decide to make a concrete move for his services before the end of the summer window.

How Ivan Basic could be even better than Arne Engels for Celtic

The Scottish Premiership champions should now push to get a deal done for the Bosnia international because he has the potential to be an even better option than Engels in midfield for O’Neill.

Engels did not have the smoothest season in the league for the Hoops in the 2025/26 campaign. He scored three non-penalty goals and provided three assists in 30 appearances, whilst losing 59% of his total duels.

Basic, meanwhile, was enjoying a strong start to the season in Kazakhstan before he caught the eye against Canada in the first match of the group stage for Bosnia earlier this month.

The 24-year-old star created a staggering five chances for his country against Canada. Only Joshua Kimmich, against Curaçao, and Yan Diomande, against Ecuador, have matched that feat at the tournament this summer.

Basic also showed off his creative quality at the start of the 2026 Premier League season with Astana, creating 1.4 chances per game and providing two assists in ten appearances.

This suggests that he has the potential to be an even greater creative threat for Celtic than Engels, who only assisted three goals in 30 matches in the Premiership in the 2025/26 campaign.

The Bosnian star also averaged 1.7 completed dribbles per game, compared to Engels’ 0.1 in the Premiership, which means that he could offer more to the team in transition with the ball at his feet.

In terms of his contributions off the ball, Basic averaged 8.2 ball recoveries per game across the first ten matches of the Premier League season this year, showing that he constantly wins possession back for his side.

He is far more effective at winning the ball back than Engels, who averaged 2.0 ball recoveries per game at league level for Celtic, and could improve O’Neill’s team out of possession.

At the age of 24, Basic would also arrive at Parkhead as another player, like Engels, who still has time on his side to develop and improve as a player.

Celtic may need to make their move quickly if they want to secure an upgrade on the Belgian, though, as more impressive performances at the World Cup could increase the number of teams looking to sign him this summer.