Key Celtic figure 'headhunted' by EFL Championship side as Brendan Rodgers provides telling admission

Swansea City are closing in on the appointment of Celtic coach Darren O’Dea - with manager Brendan Rodgers admitting his fellow Irishman could soon be on his way out of Parkhead.

The former Hoops defender is currently professional player pathway manager at the club, but he has been approached EFL Championship side over their assistant manager vacancy following Alan Sheehan’s recent appointment.

According to the Scottish Sun, the Swans have ‘headhunted’ the 38-year-old and made their move by tabling a “big” offer him that could prove too good for him to turn down.

It’s claimed Sheehan identified O’Dea as his main target to fill the No.2 role after landing the job on a permanent basis having steadied the ship after taking caretaker charge following Luke Williams’ sacking.

Swansea are under new ownership, with Real Madrid legend Luka Modric involved, and the Welsh outfit have put ambitious plans in place to earn promotion back into the Premier League.

Former centre-back O’Dea is considered a bright coaching prospect, having previously been the subject of interest from several Scottish clubs.

He joined Celtic from Dublin side Home Farm in 2005 and made his first-team breakthrough a year later. He spent four years as a semi-regular including some loan spells, before moving permanently to MLS side Toronto FC.

Stints at Ukrainian outfit Metalurh Donetsk, Mumbai City in India, Blackpool and Dundee followed before calling time on his playing career.

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A move into coaching at Motherwell followed in 2019, but it was only a matter of months before he returned to Parkhead as under-18s manager. O’Dea went on to work with Celtic’s B-team, initially as a coach and then as a manager, before switching to his current role where he has worked closely with head of football operations Paul Tisdale.

The 20-capped ex- Republic of Ireland international was involved in the youth teams around the same time as Sheehan.

Brendan Rodgers holds talks with Celtic coach amid exit reports

Current Celtic and former Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers confirmed talks are ongoing with O’Dea dropping into his office earlier this week to seek some advice.

Addressing the possibility of a move, he admitted: “Yes, I spoke to Darren yesterday on that. He came to see me and get my thoughts on what that would be, what it would look like. Obviously, I know Swansea as a club and a city better than most. I think maybe there will be a possibility for him to go as a coach.

“In his heart, he still sees himself as that. Probably the role he’s in now he would probably only do that at a club like Celtic. I think his heart is in coaching and maybe the possibility to manager later on. He just asked my opinion on it. We’ll see what happens.”