Brendan Rodgers has defended under-fire Lee Congerton as Celtic’s Head of Recruitment has come in for a barrage of criticism.

There were suggestions that Congerton was headed to Anderlecht to team up with Frank Arneson, and Rodgers believes that he has been unfairly identified as the reason for the club’s failure to bring in additional signings in recent transfer windows.

In recent weeks Celtic have signed Vakoun Issouf Bayoon a permanent deal as well as Timothy Weah and Oliver Burke on short term loan deals until the end of the season. But the search for a right-back and a central defender is one that looks as though it will continue now well into the summer window, with Rodgers defensive about the role that Congerton has played in identifying prospective signings.

“I’ve never known a head of recruitment get criticised the way he does,” said Rodgers.

“It’s obviously very unfair. People shine a torch, of course, on recruitment. But the likes of Odsonne, [Edouard] he’s a fantastic player – one of Lee’s players.

“He does a great job with the resources that he works with. He obviously has to scour the market and, at this moment in time, in terms of recruitment, it’s probably never been more difficult.

“In terms of not just attracting players to Celtic, but in terms of finance, it’s very, very tough.

“He puts in a lot of miles, a lot of hours and of course the torch gets shone on him. But it’s very unfair because, a lot of the time, he’ll find players we just can’t bring in.

“There is a hell of a lot of work that goes into it. It’s not just a click of the fingers and you get a right back or you get a central midfield player.

“It’s not as easy as that. His job is to find the players and, in his time here, he’s done that.”

Rodgers attributed the signing of Filip Benkovic to Congerton too, with Celtic tracking the Croatian defender before he signed a £13m deal with Leicester this summer. And he has maintained that the constraints Celtic need to work within in terms of a global climate makes the current role as difficult as it has ever been given the way in which the market has been squeezed.

“There’s no doubting his eye for talent,” said Rodgers. “But, bringing someone to the club, there’s a lot more to it than just seeing a player.There’s a whole other side to it.

“Once he’s found them and recommended them, that’s where he’s away, he’s out of it then.

“But, listen, the regular supporter wouldn’t know the operation.

“And when one or two get emotional in the media and start to point fingers, that can snowball.

“But he’s very talented. He hasn’t worked in the game for this period of time without having that talent. He’s working tirelessly for the club.

“But, for any recruitment officer here, it’s always going to be very, very difficult because the expectancy against the reality of where the club is makes it tough.

“The expectancy here is to do well not just domestically but in Europe – but you don’t have those resources.”