Celtic have been pulling off returns left, right and centre in recent years. In 2023, when Ange Postecoglou departed to take up the Tottenham Hotspur job, they brought back Brendan Rodgers despite the circumstances in which he had left the clube first around. And this was just the beginning of reuniiting with familiar faces.
In January, Jota was brought back after failed stints at Al-Ittihad and Rennes. This summer, Kieran Tierney and Ross Doohan have made their Parkhead returns.
Now, it looks like another Celtic hero is set to make his Parkhead return. It won't be in a playing or coaching capacity, and the move is not one that anybody would have expected to take place even a few days ago.
As reported by The Scottish Sun, Shaun Maloney is set to return to Celtic. He will replace Darren O’Dea, who left a coaching role at Swansea City as the club’s professional player pathway manager.
Another Celtic hero ready to make return out of nowhere
Maloney is a Celtic hero. He came through the ranks at the club and over his two stints at Parkhead, he made over 200 appearances in the green-and-white jersey, winning five league titles and eight trophies in total. He also won the FA Cup while with Wigan Athletic.
Maloney was very highly rated as a coach and at one point in time, he was even linked with the Celtic job after Neil Lennon had departed the club. It did not end up happening and that has proven to be a positive.
Maloney ended up becoming the manager of Hibernian not too long after that and he faile in that role. That was followed by a stint at Wigan Athletic, which was much better. He spent over two years in the job, which is eternity in modern football.