Lee Congerton, Celtic's new head of recruitment, has vowed to retain the club's philosophy of unearthing young potential before selling them on for significant revenue.

It is a policy that has served Celtic well in recent years with players such as Virgil van Dijk, Fraser Forster, Victor Wanyama and Gary Hooper all playing big roles for the club before making their move to England.

Moussa Dembele is the next player who will be anticipated to fall into the same pattern, with Celtic's £500k fee for the player who has scored 32 goals so far this season expected to yield a massive return.

And Congerton - who recommended Scott Sinclair in his teens to Chelsea - will look to continue in the same vein.

"It's about young players adding value and continuing to dominate Scottish football and play in Champions League football," said Congerton.

"I look at the Celtic team and there's pace and power in Scott and Moussa Dembele. Moussa is rightly getting the headlines but we are always looking to recruit the right player and hopefully they become the super stars of tomorrow.

"That's what excites me. At Chelsea we signed Scott Sinclair for £200,000 and Ryan Bertrand from Gillingham for £150,000. Fabio Borini for EUROS110,000 and Patrick van Aanholt for a few hundred Euros and signing him later for Sunderland for £1million and they sold him recently for £14million. That's what motivates me. There's no correct way in signing a player. Talents that can become superstars of tomorrow is what has attracted me to this role and Celtic have done that well over the years. I hope to continue that with the good network we have in place."

Congerton's challenge will be to find the next Dembele - and players of his ilk who are capable of playing in the Champions league, but without the kind of budget he would have had previously in his career.

"There's talent every where," he said. "KT is a great talent and he's on our doorstep. Our priority is always going to be Glasgow and Scotland but we have to be prepared that there are players anywhere at any time. I like the compensation route that Dembele took. That's quite attractive but if a player is good enough and within our financial means and fits the profile we are looking for then we will try and get him.

"Scouting is not about I. It's about the team. I like to smell the grass and see the player. That's the feeling, what I love. It's my passion. When I watched Son [Heung-Min] for the first time you could see he was an athlete, with right foot, left foot, power.

“It is extremely difficult. But we all love a challenge. It would have been a lot easier for me to go somewhere else because I had other opportunities but actually I am motivated because of that challenge and to work with Brendan again. If you don’t like a challenge then you shouldn’t be here or be in football."