Shaun Maloney joins Celtic as professional player pathway manager

Former Celtic attacker Shaun Maloney has returned to the club as their new professional player pathway manager.

The 42-year-old had two spells with the Hoops after coming through the youth ranks, and he is now back at Parkhead to help ensure the effective development of young players to play for the first team.

The former Scotland international takes on his new position after spells as manager of Hibernian and Wigan, while he was heavily linked with the recent vacancy at Dundee before Steven Pressley was appointed.

“It is a huge honour to be given this opportunity to return to Celtic, in a role which I am really passionate about,” Maloney told the club’s website.

“My aim will be to work really closely between our academy and the first team and create the very best opportunities for success, which will ultimately be represented by more and more players reaching our first-team environment.

“I have been fortunate enough to follow this same pathway and I am now excited about ensuring many more young players can take this same journey.”

Celtic have been criticised for the shortage of homegrown players who make the leap to the first team and manager Brendan Rodgers is delighted to have someone of Maloney’s calibre on board to help smooth the pathway.

“I am really pleased to welcome Shaun to this post,” he said. “He is someone I believe will make a great contribution to the club in this area.

“He is an intelligent guy who knows what it takes to be a successful Celtic player and I think his experience will be invaluable in this role.

“He has all the credentials to be really successful in positively developing our younger players.”