Celtic have announced that their head of first-team scouting and recruitment Mark Lawwell, and lead first-team scout Joe Dudgeon, have resigned from their positions at the club.
The Hoops have confirmed that both Lawwell and Dudgeon "will be on a period of gardening leave" and will depart the club to "pursue fresh challenges".
Lawwell, the son of Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell, arrived at Parkhead in the summer of 2022 from City Football Group (CFG), where he previously worked closely with former Hoops manager Ange Postecoglou during his time at Yokohama F Marinos.
Meanwhile, Dudgeon – once at Manchester United and Hull City in his playing days – joined Celtic a few months after Lawwell having previously developed a close working relationship together at CFG.
However, both Lawwell and Dudgeon depart Celtic at a time when the club's recruitment team have received criticism from supporters following recent transfer activity.
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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers stated after the January transfer window closed that the club must be "braver" with their recruitment going forward.
Nevertheless, Rodgers has acknowledged the efforts of both Lawwell and Dudgeon during their time at Parkhead, telling the club's website: "As part of the club's recruitment team, Mark and Joe have worked tirelessly to bring success to Celtic, and I would like to wish them both the very best for the future."
Chief executive Michael Nicholson added: "Everyone at Celtic thanks Mark and Joe for their contribution and dedication to the club, and we wish them both every success moving forward."
Across four transfer windows, Lawwell oversaw a total of 21 incomings as head of first-team scouting and recruitment at Celtic, most notably signing Portuguese winger Jota – now at Al Ittihad - and American defender Cameron Carter-Vickers on permanent deals, as well as Daizen Maeda in the summer of 2022.
Celtic spent just under £20m on eight permanent signings last summer, with around half that figure forked out on winger Luis Palma and centre-back Maik Nawrocki, while their only two additions in January were attackers Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah – the former joining for around £3m and the latter arriving on loan from Norwich City.
The Hoops currently sit second in the Scottish Premiership table and the reigning champions could find themselves five points adrift of league leaders Rangers if they beat Motherwell on Saturday, before Rodgers takes his side to Hearts on Sunday.
Oliver Thomas
