Celtic will demands a record breaking £25million as well as a player for Kieran Tierney if they are to sell up in a swap deal this summer, according to the Daily Record.
The newspaper claim on the live blog (11/07, 16:58) website that the Hoops are to demand more than the £19.8million record fee they picked up for the exit of Moussa Dembele last summer, as well as a player from the buying side if the Scottish international is to depart Parkhead this summer.
The report moots a possible swap deal involving Arsenal’s Carl Jenkinson, the Gunners said to be keen on Tierney’s capture after impressing for both club and country, after the Premier League defender was linked with a move north of the border.
Opinion
Celtic are obviously going to get every single penny out of Tierney’s exit if he does go and understandably so. They would obviously rather keep him on board for the coming season, the defender undoubtedly one of their best performers on his day, but with Premier League interest it might be difficult to rebuff a summer switch. Perhaps the biggest focus for the Hoops would be replacing him on the left hand side of defence, with no senior talents ready to fill the void following Emilio Izaguirre’s own departure and so a swap deal would be by no means the worst idea in the world. The £25million would go an awfully long way to the Hoops strengthening their side this summer – if they can get that sort of money for his signing. He is of course unproven outside of Scotland and there might well be plenty of reluctance from English sides to splash the sort of cash Celtic are looking for. It is going to be a scenario which rumbles on all summer – it will be interesting to see where Tierney is plying his trade next season.