A former ally of Eddie Howe at Bournemouth, Richard Hughes, has been linked with the sporting director role at Celtic tonight.
A number of names have been touted for the newly created position including Manchester City’s Fergal Harkin, Juventus’ Matteo Tognozzi and former Celtic midfielder John Collins.
However, a new name has emerged tonight, as reported by journalist Ewan Murray in The Guardian.
He reckons that Richard Hughes, who has held a similar role at Bournemouth, is in the running for the position alongside Harkin.
Hughes was an instrumental part of the backroom team at the Cherries after his retirement as a footballer in 2014.
He worked closely alongside Howe to guide the scrappy underdog team into the English Premier League.
Back in 2019, he spoke to the club’s official website about his role and relationship with the potential new Celtic manager.
Hughes said: “It became apparent in my first season in the role that promotion was a real possibility and therefore there wasn’t a period of time to get comfortable, it became of huge priority to identify players that could help us in the Premier League – and this was a gamble we took on because even if we didn’t gain promotion we’d be well-placed in the Championship.
“I’ve learned that it’s a job that never really sleeps, when one window shuts you’re preparing for the next one, especially when you’re working for a manager who’s as demanding for progression as Eddie is.
“We’ve expanded the recruitment department, we scout more widely than we did. We’ve doubled, close to trebled in numbers, though it is still not a huge department for a Premier League club. That cohesion between us all and the fact that we’ve all worked together for a period of time, know the manager as well as people in our position can, it puts us in a good position hopefully to allow Eddie to make more good decisions than bad ones.
“I’m hopefully loading his gun to fire as many good bullets as possible, that’s what I see my main job as. Then I act as the liaison when he makes his mind up, working alongside chief executive Neill Blake in delivering that. There are other layers to it of course and it becomes all-consuming and 24/7 if you allow it to.”
Richard Hughes to Celtic sounds feasible if Howe arrives
It certainly sounds as if Howe and Hughes are very close.
Reading between the lines here, I’d suggest the appointment of Hughes in some kind of recruitment role, if not the main sporting director role, would be a huge comfort to Howe arriving at the Bhoys as something of an outsider.
Hughes could serve as a crucial conduit between Howe, the Celtic board and incoming CEO Dominic McKay.
At the very least, it’s an interesting late name to be thrown into the mix as speculation surrounding Howe and Celtic reaches fever pitch.
Hughes also has links to Scotland having been born in Glasgow before growing up in Italy. He won four caps with the Scotland national team under Berti Vogts and Walter Smith.
Watch this space.
In other news, Patryk Klimala is being eyed for a Celtic loan exit.
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