Former Celtic striker departs recruitment role at Blackpool amid speculation linking him with Aberdeen

The 50-year-old leaves amid reports he is due to take up a similar position with Scottish side Aberdeen.

The Gazette understands, however, that Johnson was already due to depart his role at Bloomfield Road prior to speculation emerging linking him with a return north of the border.

The club said in a statement: “Blackpool Football Club can confirm that Tommy Johnson has left his position as Head of Recruitment.

“Johnson joined the Seasiders in a very defined role in October 2019, which formed part of a setup that helped to identify, monitor and sign players for the first-team.

“However, in line with John Stephenson’s appointment as head of football operations and a restructuring that has followed, the 50-year-old will depart Bloomfield Road this summer to pursue other opportunities.

“The club would like to place on record its thanks to Tommy for all his efforts during his time here and wish him the very best of luck for the future.”

The Seasiders brought in Johnson in October 2019, shortly after the former Celtic striker had been tipped to join Southend United.

Terms had been agreed for the Englishman to link up with his ex-Celtic teammate Henrik Larsson, who had agreed to take on the vacant manager's job at Roots Hall according to reports.

However the deal, which also involved Johan Mjallby coming in as assistant manager, broke down at the last minute after Johnson had a change of heart.

Sol Campbell would later take the job at Southend.

It was also reported at the time that Johnson has turned down the chance to return to Celtic to work in a senior recruitment position as part of a new-look team.

Johnson enjoyed an 18-year playing career where he played for the likes of Notts County, Derby County and Aston Villa, as well as Scottish giants Celtic.

He began scouting while coaching Northern Ireland's Under-23s, before going on to become a European scout at Cardiff City.

He went on to fill the head of player recruitment role at Blackburn Rovers, while most recently he was a senior UK scout with Premier League side Watford.

Head of football operations John Stephenson works alongside head of technical scouting Jonathan Gibson, who joined the club in October 2019.

The Seasiders recently lost first-team coach Colin Calderwood to Northampton Town.

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