Former Celtic player Mark Fotheringham has stated that he told Celtic to sign Malik Tillman on loan for Bayern Munich with the Scottish Champions deciding against making the move. Fotheringham has enjoyed a career in coaching in Germany and says that Tillman came to his attention in the Bundesliga reserves.
Speaking to The Sun, Fotheringham said that he met Celtic’s European Scout and recommended Tillman. Fotheringham added that he wanted Ange Postecoglou’s side to make the move but clearly the manager or his scouts didn’t want to sign the player, who joined Rangers on loan.
“I know their European scout and bumped into him last year at a Greuther Furth game — and I told him all about Tillman.
“I actually said, ‘Mate, sign him blind. Trust me, he’s a great player who’d be perfect for Celtic’.
“He had been asking me about another player, a boy called Filip Bilbija who I’d coached at Ingolstadt. Now, he’s also a great talent and actually joined Hamburg a few months ago on a free transfer.
“I’m convinced after two seasons he’ll move to a Bayern or Red Bull Leipzig.
“Anyway, my conversation with him turned to Tillman. I don’t know what happened afterwards, whether he passed on my comments to the first-team management or made up his own mind on the boy. It doesn’t matter now.”
Celtic have signed a number of players this summer with Daizen Maeda, Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers all joining on permanent deals. Benjamin Siegrist, Alexander Bernabei, Moritz Jenz and Aaron Mooy joining as well. The manager is keen on adding another couple of players while removing another few from the squad.
The MSM are always quick to pedal the narrative that players that have signed for Rangers ‘rejected’ Celtic. Fotheringham has very clearly said that he made a recommendation and Celtic decided against a move for the USA Internationalist.
Fotheringham made his debut in Celtic’s 0-0 draw with St Johnstone at the end of the 1999-2000 season. However, the arrival of Martin O’Neill limited his outings thereafter to just two first-team appearances.
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