Having come through Celtic’s youth Academy, Kieran Tierney’s move to Arsenal was quite a milestone one for the Glasgow club as it reportedly hit the much vaunted £25 million transfer mark, but almost from the first day that he turned up at the Emirates Stadium, the now 27 year old has been repeatedly linked with a move back to Parkhead.
The 47 capped Scottish international left back made his Premier League move back in the summer of 2019 and although he has made 92 first team starts for the side since then, his game time has to be considered disappointing as down the years he has been seriously hampered by injury, and having fallen down the pecking order he spent the 2023/24 season out on loan with Spanish La Liga side Real Sociedad.
Pretty much every time he was out of their starting XI he had seen himself linked with a move back to the Scottish Premiership, and varying managers as well as Tierney, were never actually against a return happening – it just simply did not, probably owing to financial reasons at the time.
With the January transfer window now almost at a close, Tierney has been linked with a move to Brendan Rodgers side all month, and the former Liverpool gaffer has now teased fans that although a deal may not go through before deadline day closes, he stated that the player would likely make the move during the summer at the latest.
Tierney is, of course, out of contract at the end of 2024/25 campaign and although he has featured five times for manager Mikel Arteta during December and January, only one of those was from the start and he did not finish the game.
It was fully expected that he would move on as a free agent this month, but if Rodgers words are accurate here, clearly talks are ongoing for his services but there must be a stumbling block, but it would be wildly open to debate as to whether such a stumbling block would be on the personal terms side, or Arsenal simply hoping to recoup a little bit more than a nominal fee given their original outlay.
Given Celtic have also cancelled the loan of Barcelona left back Alex Valle, many will feel that the decision has been taken with a view to striking a formal deal with the London club and simply just freeing a space up in the squad for him and creating a bit more wriggle room in their own wage budgets.
With around 72 odd hours left in the window, we will soon know for sure.