Hertha Berlin assistant coach Mark Fotheringham has revealed he recommended Malik Tillman to Celtic before his Rangers switch - but they had their eyes fixed on Filip Bilbija.
The American international has made a strong start to life at Ibrox and scored a crucial header to send them into the Champions League play-offs with a win against Union-Saint Gilloise. In a previous role at another German club, Ingolstadt, Fotheringham told a European scout representing Celtic that Tillman was one to snap up while on the books at Bayern Munich.
Instead it was midfielder Filip Bilbija, who this summer signed for Hamburg, who the Parkhead club had their eyes on. Tillman is making a name for himself at Rangers but former Hoops man Fotheringham reckons it would have been a great coup for them, with the man they were scouting on a path to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in years to come.
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He told the Scottish Sun: “Tillman’s a brilliant talent. just wish he was at Celtic. I know their European scout and bumped into him last year at a Greuther Furth game.
"I told him all about Tillman. I actually said, ‘Mate, sign him blind. Trust me, he’s a great player who’d be perfect for Celtic’. He had been asking me about another player, a boy called Filip Bilbija who I’d coached at Ingolstadt.
"Now, he’s also a great talent and actually joined Hamburg a few months ago on a free transfer. I’m convinced after two seasons he’ll move to a Bayern or Red Bull Leipzig. Anyway, my conversation with him turned to Tillman.
“I don’t know what happened afterwards, whether he passed on my comments to the first-team management or made up his own mind on the boy. It doesn’t matter now.
“He actually said, ‘Yeah, we like him’. But I’m disappointed nothing happened. At the time, he seemed more interested in Bilbija. Fair enough, he’s quality too. But I believed Tillman was a big opportunity missed.
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