Chris Sutton believes Celtic's decision to sell Arne Engels before their Champions League playoff tie against LASK is 'dumb'.
The Belgian midfielder is set to complete a record-breaking transfer to English Championship side West Ham United, believed to be worth £22 million.
But Sutton has criticised the timing of the deal.
He said (RecordSport): "I can’t for the life of me work out why Celtic are allowing one of their best players to leave on the eve of one of the biggest games of the season.
"It's just dumb. There’s so much on the line, it’s unthinkable to go into this match in a weaker position – but that’s what is going to happen with Engels gone.
"I get that it’s big money and I understand why West Ham want him now, with the Championship kicking off this weekend.
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"But that’s not Celtic’s problem. They had to look after themselves.
"You only have to look at Engels’ display at Rugby Park at the weekend to see what he brings to Martin O’Neill’s team.
"He has an energy and drive that is hard to replace, he covers the entire pitch and brings some physicality they need."
Although Celtic signed German midfielder Mika Baur from Paderborn on Thursday, manager Martin O'Neill stressed that he is not a like-for-like Engels replacement.
"We always felt that if Arne left, we would be looking for a box-to-box midfield player with real physicality," he explained. "And that is something we would still look at."
Celtic travel to face Dundee United at Tannadice in the Premier Sports Cup this evening.
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