Five players who left Celtic and returned as Tierney and Doohan become latest Hoops' comebacks

With Celtic’s latest recruits Kieran Tierney and Ross Doohan both returning to Parkhead after spells away from the Scottish Premiership champions - we look back at five other examples of players who have reunited with the Hoops.

Goalkeeper Doohan, 27, is Brendan Rodgers latest signing having joined Celtic last week after departing Scottish Cup winners Aberdeen. He previously was at the Hoops from a young age, enjoying loan spells away from the club during a seven-year spell.

Tierney rejoined Celtic from Arsenal on a pre-contract deal earlier this summer and is expected to slot back into the left-back role at the Hoops with Greg Taylor expected to depart. Fans’ favourite Tierney made over 100 appearances for his heroes before making a £25m move to the Premier League giants. he famously helped secure back-to-back domestic trebles.

Here’s some further examples of players who have returned to Celtic after leaving.

Shaun Maloney

The former Celtic favourite is another fresh example having just returned to Parkhead this week. Having played for the club for over ten years, coming through before making his debut at Ibrox, the attacker went on to enjoy two separate spells as a player. And now he’s returned again to become the club’s Professional Player Pathway Manager. Maloney takes the place of Darren O'Dea, who recently departed to take up a coaching role at English Championship outfit Swansea City.

Jota

The Portuguese winger marked his return to the Hoops with an emotional goal against Motherwell at Fir Park after rejoining Celtic last season. When Kyogo departed the club, the Hoops managed to bring back Jota as part of the deal. He suffered a season-ending injury last term and is out for the foreseeable. During his first spell at Celtic, he contributed 28 goals and 26 assists in 83 games over two years in Glasgow and made a money-spinning move to Al-Ittihad two summers ago.

Charlie Mulgrew

A former Celtic youth prospect, coming through the Lennoxtown ranks alongside the likes of Aidan McGeady, Mulgrew won the Scottish Youth Cup with the Parkhead club and was sent out on loan to Dundee United for Scottish Premiership playing experience. He departed the club in 2008 to move to Wolves as part of a swap deal for Lee Naylor. Mulgrew was only away from the Hoops for two years before returning. His second spell was a successful one. The centre-back made well over 100 appearances.

Emilio Izaguirre

The Honduran International was a fans’ favourite at Parkhead during his first spell with the club. He joined Celtic back in 2010 for around £600k from his hometown team and went on to take the Scottish Premiership by storm. The flying full-back. Izaguirre won three awards in his first season in Scotland and went on to make nearly 200 appearances over seven years before eventually leaving to head to Saudi. He only lasted a year away from Parkhead before making a shock return back in 2019. His second spell saw him become a bit-part player and he decided not to stay for another season.

Frank MacAvennie

Looking back, MacAvennie is another Hoops hero who enjoyed two Parkhead spells. He moved to Celtic firstly in 1987 and he played over 50 times for the Hoops, scoring 27 times. The former Scotland cap impressed and helped seal Celtic a double during their centenary season. He eventually left the club to head back down south to West Ham, where he first joined from. MacAvennie rejoined Celtic for a second spell back in 1992 and didn’t manage to hit the heights he did previously.