Martin O'Neill has praised Celtic's hierarchy for not "taking the bait" when Nottingham Forest came calling for Arne Engels on transfer deadline day.

Forest made three offers for the Belgium midfielder before the transfer window came to a close, the most significant of which reached £25m.

O'Neill acknowledges the money on offer was "tempting" for the Bhoys, but given they are only six points behind Hearts in the Scottish Premiership title race, he is delighted they withstood the temptation to cash in.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday's meeting with Aberdeen, O'Neill told reporters: "For here, that's an awful lot of money. It's an awful lot of money.

"Personally, I'm delighted that the board turned it down. It's really tempting and it's come at a very, very late stage, I must admit. So real great credit to them.

"He didn't kick up a fuss about it either, even though it's come in late. And of course, it's tempting, it's really big money for here.

"But they [the board] didn't take the bait, and so naturally, I'm really pleased, and we can look at things in the summer. Obviously, life changes, but that was a major statement."

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Celtic sealed loan signings for forwards Junior Adamu and Joel Mvuka, in addition to defender Benjamin Arthur, on deadline day, but they are still considering a move for free agent Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who terminated his contract with Besiktas last August.

Asked if he saw the former Arsenal man as a potentially valuable addition, O'Neill said: "I do. I genuinely do. Yes. He has trained at Arsenal for some time, since his time in Turkiye. 

"I spoke to him, but I'm sure he'll have lots of options, maybe closer to London as well too. But he was very affable, I must admit.

"I would be very interested in doing it, but I'm surprised that people haven't taken him closer to the area, and he's telling me he's been training with Arsenal for quite some considerable time.

"I think he was very excited about what we were saying. He knows about the football club. He's a big friend of Joe Hart and Joe's spoken to him. Not on our behalf. It was just a conversation with Joe. But listen, it's fine."