Ex Sunderland & Liverpool star backs £11m Celtic ace to come good amid struggles as Rodgers style praised

Club Brugge goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has predicted that Arne Engels will come good for Celtic and Belgium and enjoy a successful spell at in Glasgow as his looks to justify his hefty £11 million transfer fee.

The Hoops record signing from FC Augsburg back in August failed to make a significant impact in Wednesday’s 1-1 Champions League draw against his former club and was replaced early in the second half by Paulo Bernardo.

His latest below-par display was heavily criticised by former Celtic centre-half Johan Mjallby on TNT Sports, but the 21-year-old midfielder has still managed to break into the Red Devils national team despite taking time to find his feet in Glasgow.

Fellow countryman Mignolet - who retired from international duty last year - was aware of the playmaker’s talent when he was a teenager on the books at the Belgian Pro League club.

He said: “He is doing really well. I had him in a fair few training sessions at Brugge and you could see he had a really good right foot. He has shown in every single game he has played here he can have a really good future, not only with Celtic but also Belgium. So I hope for him he keeps playing like that. Luckily, the other night he didn’t score.”

Mignolet was satisfied to claim a welcome point at Parkhead in their own quest to reach the knockout phase - and he revealed he wasn’t at all surprised by Celtic’s style of play under his former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers.

The Northern Irishman spent £9m to take Mignolet from Sunderland to Anfield in the summer of 2013 and the vastly experienced stopper has always admired Rodgers’ attacking approach to the game.

He added: “You can see it in the team - Celtic keep on playing football. He always wants his team to play from the back, to have the ball, to be in possession. And you saw that throughout the whole game. They didn’t play one long ball and that is probably why the came back in the second half.

“We were pushed back towards our own box and couldn’t come out of the pressure any more, although we had those chances on the counter-attack. That is due to his football philosophy. Celtic were better in the second half together with the support of the fans. although we had some chances.

“Kasper Schmeichel made a good save and we had a goal disallowed. It was a fair result. We have matched every team we’ve played - Borussia Dortmund, Aston Villa, AC Milan and Celtic.”