With a week left in the Transfer Window Celtic fans are discussing the possibility of Kieran Tierney having his Arsenal contract terminated leading to the inevitable speculation over a return to the SPFL champions.
The defender left Celtic in July 2019 for Arsenal, signing a five year contract with a further five year contract signed in 2021.
Mikel Arteta opted to sign Oleksandr Zinchenko in the summer of 2022 casting a shadow over Tierney’s Arsenal prospects, last season he went on loan to Real Sociedad where he made 20 appearances in La Liga and two in the Champions League.
The injury issues continued into the European Championships where his tournament ended with a serious hamstring pull as Scotland drew 1-1 with Switzerland in their second group match.
Rumour Tierney will be freed by Arsenal this week.
— Celticunderground (@celticrumours) August 25, 2024
As you can see from the comments below there is a full range of reactions to the possibility of Tierney signing for Celtic.
Last summer Brendan Rodgers spoke openly about his admiration for the defender but when it came to the crunch he moved to San Sebastian with that position unaltered by Celtic’s dubious summer recruitment.
A year further down the line Celtic only have Greg Taylor as a natural first team ready left-back with Liam Scales similarly placed in central defence. At St Mirren today Tony Ralston finished the match playing at left-back.
Tierney can play either role but the recurring issue is his fitness which has been a problem since he was overplayed at Celtic when complete rest was the only cure.
Taylor is now into the final year of his Celtic contract to add on another complication, if a deal is struck for Tierney it is difficult to imagine Taylor agreeing to a new contract as second choice to a fan favourite.
Over the remaining few days of the transfer window Celtic fans can expect to be bombarded by speculation and rumours.
More substantially Fabrizio Romano has tweeted that Barcelona left-back Alex Valle is joining Celtic on a season long loan.
🚨🟢⚪️ Alex Valle signs new deal with Barcelona until June 2026 and he’s set to join Celtic on loan.
Verbal agreement reached, as @gbsans advanced. Celtic are checking all docs to get it signed early next week. pic.twitter.com/t5XuBXtvTH
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 25, 2024
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Great thing about possibly getting Tierney back is that not only does he give us options at LB but also CB his versatility would be valuable for our team.
— Glasgowcelticwing (@RossAllan1980) August 25, 2024
Jesus I thought everyone but be all over it, he’d be a great signing, didn’t have too many issues expect his shoulder and having a few teeth knocked out, I’d take him just to smash the huns around the park
— McCormack (@MikeMcCormack07) August 25, 2024
A hard no from me, would be a waste of money with his injury issues. Is he not out until next year anyway?
— Mark Murphy ⭐️ (@Markyjig) August 25, 2024
I’d be amazed if that was true. Still has two years left on deal.
— Michael Hastie (@M8J7H) August 25, 2024
Dont care if hes injury prone lol take him, when hes not injured hes class
— Aaron Packer (@aaronpacker_) August 25, 2024
He will probably get injured picking up his P45
— stuart mckay (@malky67) August 25, 2024
1 Comment
by Johnno
Can’t see anything happening for Tierney now, until the January window opens?
Arsenal will possibly be hoping for a fee for Tierney which will be reduced again due to his ongoing injury issues?
Possibly needs a loan move to try and prove his fitness, before I would say that we could potentially invest into him as a potential permanent signing imo?
Thought a loan deal might have been in the offering for ourselves, in this window, but wasn’t to be now?
Still think Rodgers wants a return of Tierney, not so sure the board would be on the same wavelength all the same?