Celtic’s failure to hire Southampton talent-spotter Ross Wilson is now haunting them

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Celtic have twice tried to lure director of recruitment Ross Wilson to the Scottish Premiership from Premier League outfit Southampton.

Celtic tried and failed to lure Southampton’s highly-respected talentspotter Ross Wilson to Glasgow a year ago.

Wilson is seen as the brains behind The Saints’ transformation into an overachieving Premier League outfit in the last few seasons and, according to The Express, Celtic were keen on hiring him to replace the departing John Park in March of 2017.

But Wilson rejected Celtic’s advances – and not for the first time. Speaking to the BBC, he admitted that the Scottish Premiership giants had offered him a role in 2011 but he wanted to work in England and joined Watford instead.

And now, the long-running inability to hire one of the most highly-rated transfer gurus in British football could come back to haunt Celtic.

Because the Daily Record reports that Wilson himself is driving Southampton’s bid to sign Tom Rogic this summer.

The Australian international playmaker has enjoyed a fabulous season in green and white but, despite Brendan Rodgers’ desire to keep him at Parkhead, Rogic has rejected the club’s latest contract offer and could leave this summer with just a year remaining on his deal.

Wilson even scouted Rogic in person as he starred in Sunday’s 5-0 thrashing of Rangers.

Now, Wilson has managed to bring Fraser Forster, Virgil van Dijk and Victor Wanyama to Southampton from Celtic in recent years and could once again prove to be a thorn in their side.