Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has hit back at critics of club record signing Arne Engels – stating that the Belgian midfielder is “nowhere near the finished article”.

The arrival of Engels from FC Augsburg in the summer was met with much anticipation given the hefty £11 million fee, but he has received some criticism for his recent performances.

Speaking ahead of the Sunday’s visit to Motherwell, Rodgers leapt to the 21-year-old's defence and urged patience as the youngster continues to develop at Celtic Park.

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Rodgers said: "There's critics in the game, and people have an opinion - you have to respect that. For me, we've brought a young player in who is nowhere near the finished article.

"I think sometimes there is a price around him and that might feel that you're buying someone who is the finished article - he's not. He came in here as a 20-year-old player who has got great potential, and it's my job along with the staff to develop that.

"He's coming from playing one game a week, where that's a holiday in my book, to come and play at a big club, with big pressure and big expectations and you will feel it.

"Sometimes, you'll play a lot of games and you come out to recover, so it's all natural.

“We've had the same with Nicolas Kuhn and Callum McGregor over the many years. It's football, I understand people want to make a judgement and an opinion, but I'm so happy he's chosen to come here.

"He's shown more than enough in this short period of time that he is going to be a fantastic player for us.”