Hibs sporting director Malky Mackay has been quietly building something impressive at Easter Road, and it is surprising more clubs have not come calling.
There has been significant talk about Shaun Maloney taking a sporting director role at Celtic, which could turn out to be welcome news for Hibs supporters.
If Celtic are focused on Maloney, it means they will not be looking to prise Mackay away from Easter Road any time soon, which suits Hibs just fine.
Mackay was not an overwhelmingly popular appointment when he arrived in 2024, but few at Hibs can argue with the results he has produced alongside recruitment chief Garvan Stewart.
While everyone has been gushing about what Hearts are doing and raving about Tony Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics, Mackay and Stewart have quietly gone about their business across the city.
The recruitment has been a million times better than it had been for years, when Hibs seemed to sign dozens of players who were here one minute and gone the next without making much of an impression.
Hibs are now sitting on a collection of highly saleable assets, and the pipeline of talent coming through the door reflects well on Stewart’s scouting network.
Miguel Chaiwa will attract significant interest this summer and would cost north of £3 million, with talk of Celtic sniffing around having only recently died down.
Josh Mulligan, who has been linked with both Celtic and Rangers among others, was shrewdly picked up when his contract ran down at Dundee and has become one of the most promising players in the country.
Owen Elding was brought in from Ireland for just £400,000 and is already on the radar of the Republic of Ireland national team, with his value set to soar considerably.
Hibs banked £6.5 million plus add-ons from the sale of Kieron Bowie, and Elding is already looking a cracking prospect who will definitely make Hibs a right few quid in the future.
Ante Suto, an Austrian international, along with Felix Passlack and Jamie McGrath, further demonstrate the depth and quality Mackay and Stewart have added to the squad.
Keeping key players has been equally important, and it made perfect sense to retain Martin Boyle when it seemed certain he was heading for the exit door.
Last season was not anything spectacular, but securing a European place represented a decent return, particularly given the injuries and difficulties the club had to navigate throughout the campaign.
Mackay also deserves credit for keeping his head when others were losing theirs, backing manager David Gray when calls for his dismissal grew loud and being proved right to do so.
It would have been easy to bow to public opinion, but he held firm, and that kind of cool, calculated thinking is exactly what Celtic desperately need as they look to fix their own recruitment issues.
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