There's a certain irony that Celtic 's new director of football operations earned the job for keeps after impressing during a loan spell.
Nick Hammond is the man who is tasked with finding transfer gems as the Hoops have all eyes on their quest to secure 10-in-a-row - while also bringing through the stars of tomorrow.
The former West Brom chief's head of football operations title hints towards a wide-ranging remit and will almost certainly enjoy a level of control that was never afforded to predecessor Lee Congerton.
Neil Lennon and Peter Lawwell were desperate to land Hammond for keeps and the permanent contract confirmed this week was the subject of the latest Record Celtic podcast.
Michael Gannon joined Graeme Young as the pair discussed all the latest from Parkhead and the 52-year-old's main objectives were high on the agenda.
Gannon said: "Hammond was brought in to help over the summer and get in signings and to conduct an overview - a reassessment of the entire structure of the club.
"This is something that's been looked at for a while.
" Peter Lawwell has wanted to examine the director of football role and get someone in there because Peter's been doing it a long time.
"It's someone to help out with the contract negotiation side of things and all the others bits and bobs that Peter does.
"Neil Lennon has known him for years and he had a similar job at Reading and West Brom, he's well known within the game.
"Eventually, he will deal with every facet of the club from the training ground to arranging the pre-season schedule but the first team is the main priority in the short term.
"But getting a team that can get back to the Champions League, that's the big test for him."
"He's picked up guys like Jeremie Frimpong who might come on and be a big player, so that's going on in the background.
"Celtic have been guilty over a lack of forward planning in recent years.
"Nick Hammond must lay the foundations in January to get players ready for day one of the following pre-season."
Predecessor Congerton arrived in March 2017 with mentor Brendan Rodgers in the midst of a historic Invincible Treble campaign.
But the talent-spotter and his credentials were quickly put put under the microscope with a series of signing mistakes during his ill-fated spell at Parkhead.
And it wasn't just the players who arrived - Celtic were in talks with the likes of highly-rated Cristiano Piccini but a move for the right-back were always a non-starter.
Michael believes the recruitment drive will now work in perfect harmony with a better understanding of the market the Premiership champions are shopping in.
He added: "Hammond is starting with a pretty low level expectation because his predecessor wasn't very good at it. The targets were unrealistic.
"Congerton's sole remit was recruitment. Hammond might be more hands-on contractually and dealing directly with Lawwell.
"You won't get to that situation of an £8million full-back turning up talks wanting £75,000-per-week and getting laughed out the building.
"You won't get to that stage because Hammond is there to negotiate and is setting up the networks to get these targets in and will know the parameters Celtic are working under.
"It was weird (under Rodgers and Congerton), Celtic either moved for players they couldn't afford or ones below the standard required and paid over the odds."
