Former England defender Danny Mills has praised Celtic for looking to appoint a new director of football prior to identifying their next first team manager.

According to Football Insider, the Hoops are closing in on appointing Manchester City transfer guru Fergal Harkin for the newly-created role.

Harkin to Celtic ‘90% done’

A deal is thought to be ‘90% done’ after positive discussions between the two parties, with Harkin expected to play a key role in the club’s search for Neil Lennon’s successor.

When asked if the Hoops were right to focus on a new director of football before appointing their next manager, Mills told Football Insider:

“Yes.”

“Director of football is the old-school chief-executive. They’re involved in transfers, involved in contracts, talking to scouts about who they’re going to sign.”

“Football is such a big business, it’s global. You need that.”

“He then organises the coaches, he then organises recruitment and puts all these people in place.”

Mills went on to label the pending appointment as ‘massive’.

“The owners and chairman are off doing what they’re doing. They’ve got lives to lead. So the director of football is effectively running the football club and is putting in all the right people.”

“He’s basically the CEO of a company. It’s a massive appointment.”

Transfer Tavern take

We’re with Mills in believing that Celtic were right to get in a director of football before turning their attention to a new manager.

The former will have to work extremely closely with the manager, so it’s vital that the pair are both on the same page.

As Mills says, Harkin will effectively be running the football operations should the move become official, and his 11 years of experience at a club like Manchester City could come in extremely handy in Glasgow.

In other news: Celtic keen on 18 y/o midfielder from Premier League club, find out more here.