Would Lee Congerton be risking his Celtic reputation with Liam Moore deal?

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Celtic are reportedly willing to pay £5m to bring Reading defender Liam Moore to Parkhead.

Sunderland supporters could not believe it when Lee Congerton was appointed as Celtic’s head of recruitment back in March.

The 43-year-old was hardly a popular figure during his two years as Sunderland’s sporting director between 2013 and 2015, after all. The Black Cats’ disastrous recruitment and wasting of valuable funds played a major role in their recent decline and Congerton must be apportioned a huge slice of the blame.

And, after his first transfer window at Celtic, the jury is very much still out on the Welshman. The Bhoys can expect big things in the future of Kundai Benyu and Odsonne Edouard but, as of yet, the talented youngsters have not really made an impact.

Neither has Jonny Hayes, the 30-year-old left winger signed from Aberdeen who doesn’t appear to have a role in the team. And Olivier Ntcham, though hugely promising, has a long way to go before he can justify a £4 million price-tag that made him Celtic’s most expensive addition in a decade, per the Daily Record.

Congerton, then, would be putting huge pressure on himself if the Scottish champions were to make Reading’s Liam Moore the fifth most expensive signing in their history during the January transfer window.

The Daily Record report that Brendan Rodgers wants a centre-back and 24-year-old Moore is top of his list. The former Leicester City man, however, could cost around £5 million.

The most Celtic have ever paid for a defender is the £4.8 million they stumped up to bring in Brazilian international Rafael Scheidt back in 1999, per the BBC – and it would be an understatement to say his name was rather fitting.

Moore, while a talented defender, has done little in his career so far to suggest that he would be worth such a record-breaking fee – even if he did impress in Reading’s run to the Championship play-off final last season.

And, if Moore did not manage to live up to such a lofty price-tag, Congerton may once again come under fire for his tendency to pay big money for relatively unproven players.