LEEDS United have appointed former Celtic head of football operations Nick Hammond as “interim football advisor on a short-term contract” - a similar role to the one he held at Newcastle last year.
Hammond had a short term consultancy role at Newcastle after the takeover and helped guide the club's recruitment in the crucial 2022 January transfer window.
Newcastle made five signings, bringing in Bruno Guimaraes, Chris Wood, Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn on permanent deals, and Matt Targett on loan, with the additions helping Eddie Howe's side climb to Premier League safety and laid the foundations for last season's success.
Hammond played a key short-term role, helping the Magpies while a deal to bring Dan Ashworth from Brighton was being finalised.
And the 55-year-old will now set about helping Leeds with their summer recruitment plans as they continue their search for a permanent director of football.
The club said: “Leeds United are pleased to confirm the appointment of Nick Hammond as the club’s interim football advisor on a short-term contract.
“Hammond will help support the club during the summer transfer window.
“The experienced 55-year-old, former director of football at Reading and head of football operations at Celtic, worked in a similar consultancy role at Newcastle United.
“The process for finding a new, permanent, director of football at Leeds United is under way and the club aim to complete this process by October, allowing the successful candidate to focus on the January transfer window.”
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Reflecting on his time on Tyneside, Hammond told The Training Ground Guru's Scouting and Recruitment Webinar: "My role was a little bit more in the background than I would be as a normal sporting director.
"As a sporting director over my career I would lead the discussions, lead the negotiations with potential signings.
"This role was sort of a step removed from that, doing the checks and balances in the background, having an opinion on the players who had already been identified by Steve Nickson and his team, having taken a good steer from Eddie Howe, the new head coach, who had to make very quick decisions in terms of where he saw his squad.
"It was a fascinating experience, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but very challenging time for them (the Newcastle owners).
"It was interesting in as much as here you’ve got a group of people who all want to achieve the same thing but they’re new, they’re almost thrown together.
"A new group of owners; new head coach; Steve (Nickson), who’s been in the building for a long time, and all of a sudden in a very short space of time you’ve got to come together and make some decisions to try and strengthen the team for what is the short term ambition of staying in the Premier League."
Leeds are also on the lookout for a new manager after Sam Allardyce's exit.
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