How valuable are Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda and Callum McGregor to Celtic?

Of course, it’s not just appearances, goals and assists that count.

While McGregor, 33, is in the twilight of his career, his experience and leadership skills will be hard to replace.

Still only 28, Maeda not only has World Cup experience with Japan but probably has his best days ahead of him – and the same could be said of the more youthful Engels.

Former Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou waxed lyrical during this summer’s finals about the “world-class” close-down ability that made Maeda such a valuable asset, while McGregor, long the heartbeat of the team, has taken on more responsibility since replacing Scott Brown in 2021.

All of this makes both players attractive to potential suitors, as does Engels’ talent and growth potential.

A potential move to Wolfsburg in 2025 for Maeda has not materialised, while Engels was the subject of interest from Nottingham Forest last term.

Their subsequent drop off in the early season left some disappointed to see those moves collapse, but both finished strongly, albeit not enough to earn Engels a place in Belgium’s World Cup squad.

Speculation over McGregor’s future is nothing new, having been a top performer at Celtic for 12 years.

He showed his loyalty to the club when he gave up his international career to maintain his Celtic form.

However, in April he warned that he was happy to finish his career at Celtic if they “keep pushing and want to be successful”.

Their late push under O’Neill was before the title was wrested from Hearts, but at his age, McGregor has a big step up in him, as does Engels despite being contracted until 2028.

Maeda has just one year left on his contract, so as things stand, Celtic only have two transfer windows to cash in.