It looks like Celtic have identified Eddie Howe as the perfect man to help reclaim the Premiership title from Rangers next season and beyond.
According to Sky Sports, Celtic, who are 20 points behind newly-crowned champions Rangers, have made contact with the 43-year-old manager.
Celtic have been without a head coach since Neil Lennon quit his role earlier this calendar year, with John Kennedy taking charge on an interim basis.
But with Kennedy boasting no managerial experience and Steven Gerrard’s Rangers light-years ahead of their Old Firm rivals this season, it’ll take a renowned figure to lead the Parkhead club back to the summit of Scottish football – and Howe is certainly renowned.
Howe left Bournemouth following their relegation from the Premier League last season, but the young coach had overseen a five-year stay in England’s top flight – a remarkable feat given their lack of resources for much of that stint.
Rangers hitman Jermain Defoe knows a thing or two about the potential Celtic boss, having worked with him at Dean Court, but the legendary striker only managed 11 league starts under him and the former England international has claimed to talkSPORT that he wasn’t sure if Howe knew how to manage him.
Defoe, who joined the light Blues from the English club in January of 2019, said: “I didn’t really have a relationship with the manager. I was closer to his assistant Jason Tindall. I just felt like the manager, he probably didn’t know how to manage me for whatever reason. That was it really.
“Towards the end I almost felt like I was forced out. And then that was it.”
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