PETER Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, last night expressed confidence the Parkhead club will continue to enjoy success in the transfer market after appointing Lee Congerton as their new head of recruitment.
Congerton, a former head of scouting at Chelsea, technical director at Hamburg and sporting director at Sunderland, has been brought in to oversee player acquisitions at the Scottish champions.
The one-time semi-professional footballer from Wales effectively replaces John Park, who left his position as head of football development at the Glasgow club after nine years back in October.
Park is widely credited as being the man who brought Virgil van Dijk and Victor Wanyama to Scotland – players who Celtic were able to sell for multi-million pound transfer fees after getting years of exceptional service out of.
Lawwell believes the addition of Congerton, who will have responsibility for Celtic’s international scouting network, to the football department will ensure that their impressive track record in that important area continues.
“Player recruitment is such a crucial function of the club and we are delighted to welcome Lee to Celtic to oversee this area,” he told the official Celtic website. “We are always looking to develop further, to drive the club forward and ensure that we continue our success in this area and deliver the best players we can to our supporters.”
Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager, welcomed the arrival of Congerton, who has held coaching positions with Liverpool and the Welsh FA in the past, at Parkhead.
“It is great news that we have been able to bring someone of Lee’s calibre to Celtic,” he said. “He brings knowledge, experience and excellence to such an important area of our work and I know he will add real value to the club. We will always strive to be the best and in Lee, we have brought the best to Celtic.”
Congerton believes his experience of working with Rodgers during his time in charge at Anfield will prove beneficial to him in his new position. “I know Brendan well, I know how he works and the quality he aims for. I am really looking forward to working with him again to ensure that we continue to bring the very best to Celtic and give our fans players and a team they will be proud of.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here