Celtic have two 'prime targets' to replace West Ham-bound Arne Engels

Celtic have already identified replacements for potential new West Ham man Arne Engels.

The 22-year-old looks set to seal a move to the London Stadium after a record £22million bid was accepted.

He is expected to complete his medical with the East London side on Friday.

That means that it will then come down to the formalities before he signs for Nuno Espirito Santo.

The Hoops are resigned to losing him at this point, and have started work on bringing in his successor.

A new update has named two options, which suggests that his transfer is imminent.

Who do Celtic want to replace Arne Engels as West Ham move on cards

Celtic have wasted no time to try and secure their new midfield man to take over.

Sky Sports' Anthony Joseph claimed on Friday that they are looking towards Croatia and Italy.

He stated that Hadjuk Split's Niko Sigur and Torino’s Gvidas Gineitis are their prime targets for the position.

The report also claims that other names are being considered, but does not mention who they are.

How does that affect West Ham's pursuit of Engels?

In theory, it means that they have accepted that they will lose the Belgian and have to sign a new player.

That was the likely scenario anyway, given that a bid has been accepted and he is undergoing a medical, but it pretty much rubber-stamps it.

That opens the door for Engels to complete his move to the Hammers, and hopefully emerge as a fan favourite rather quickly in E20.

That is very possible, if he can create the numbers that he managed last season, which was seven goals and eight assists in 46 matches in all competitions.

Nuno's side will hope that he can have a similar level of contributions, if not even better, in the second tier of English football and help them secure promotion back to the top-flight.

If not it will be a pretty risky outlay, although given his age, there is still a lot of sell-on value, if that scenario does materialise.

With his arrival, their chances of securing their immediate goal is a lot more likely, if he can adapt to the level and play his natural game straight away.