West Brom technical director Luke Dowling has hit out at Celtic manager Neil Lennon's treatment of Oliver Burke during his loan spell at the club last season.

After temporarily moving from The Hawthorns to Glasgow January, Burke made 19 appearances and scored four goals in all competitions as Celtic were crowned Scottish champions for the eighth consecutive season.

That success came despite the mid-season departure of manager Brendan Rodgers, who left to take over at Leicester in February, with former Celtic boss Neil Lennon returning to the club as his replacement, and it appears that it is the club's current manager who is the target of the Baggies' frustration.

Speaking about Burke's time at Celtic in a press conference to unveil their own new manager, Slaven Bilic, Dowling was quoted by The Mirror as saying: “He won’t be going anywhere near Celtic with the current manager.

“We sent Oli to Celtic in good faith with Brendan Rodgers and Lee Congleton some really good people up there that wanted to take Olly and wanted to play him.

"They wanted to make him a better player than he currently is.

“Once Brendan left to go to Leicester the treatment he got from the manager that’s in place now is something we don’t expect for one of our players."

Dowling would not expand on the events that appear to have taken place behind the scenes at Celtic, and when asked to do so he said: "They know what’s gone on and Oli certainly knows what’s gone on.

“It’s just something we’re not happy with at all.”

Burke has made just 21 appearances in all competitions for the Baggies since joining for a fee reported by the Daily Mail to be £15million from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2017, but Dowling hinted that Burke could have a future at The Hawthorns under Bilic, as he claimed: "We believe he’s got an opportunity back here with a new manager in place."

The Verdict

This is a strange situation here.

It is hard to comment fully without knowing what went on between Burke and Lennon at Celtic, but it is likely that only those two will ever know what happened for certain.

Given the strength of Dowling's comments, it would surprise if there were any deals done involving any player in the near future, let alone Burke.

It is also intriguing to note that Burke will be given the chance to impress under Bilic next season, and given the impact, or lack of, he appears to have had so far, you feel he needs to do so if he is to keep his Baggies career alive for much longer.