WELL, well, then. Kieran Tierney has spoken about the speculation last month linking him with a move to Everton. Let’s be a little more specific. Tierney is one of the most sought after left backs in European football, his abilities are well known across Europe and every English Premier League team will have a file on him.
He has been linked to plenty of sides down south – Tottenham and Manchester United for instance – but that Everton story was different.
You might remember that the Brendan Rodgers gave an interview while over in Austria at the training camp when he talked about the morality of denying a player a move to England given the ‘life changing’ money that they could make down there.
The ‘life changing’ expression that the manager used and was then touted by the ITKs to the Celtic support over the next few weeks. If you are unemployed and win the lottery that’s life changing money. If you are on a six or seven year contract at Celtic you certainly can earn more in England’s top league – just like Stuart Armstrong – but KT is hardly scrapping by on the money he is making at Celtic.
Look, there’s no criticism in saying that about KT, in fact the opposite is true. These weren’t his words but they were the argument used to soften up the Celtic support ahead of an expected (or hoped for) £25million bid from Everton.
It never arrived. Everton shopped elsewhere for their new left back, in France wasn’t it – and for around half the price Celtic PLC had ‘hoped’ to achieve.
David Potter on here pointed out that KT had signed the long term deal willingly, that he was only a month or so before running round Hampden with a megaphone at the Celtic end and that he had plenty of time to fulfil his ambitions at Celtic (10IAR) before looking to play in a bigger league.
But we were being told (sold) – by these ITKs – that little could be done if the player wanted to go. Poor old Celtic would just have to reluctantly sell our best player and take the £25million transfer fee.
Looking back it looks like KT wasn’t so keen to leave after all, Everton weren’t ready to slap £25million on the table and Brendan Rodgers for the last time was prepared to play along. The ITKs have had a tough summer and David Potter has been proved to be 100% right, and in tune with the support. That’s easier when you don’t have a cushioned seat at the games.
That KT to Everton story was the beginning of the summer we’ve had to endure and it goes to the heart of our problem.
Are we all about building the best team and putting all our resources and energy into that – let’s call it Brendan’s club approach, or are we all about maximising the revenue for the business by selling players for huge profits ( a home grown player sale is particularly profitable) – let’s call this Peter’s PLC approach.
Imagine…
“After a huge £25million win the PLC’s supporters headed to to pub to celebrate the huge financial windfall,” The Financial Tims.
Anyway back to Kieran Tierney. After saying nothing about all of this for almost two months, the 21 year old Celtic star has now spoken about the early summer speculation linking him to Everton, where he could have earned up to £70k per week. Judge for yourself what his mindset is regarding being happy at Celtic.
“I know, and my family know, that since day one we have been committed to Celtic,” Kieran said.
“That’s 100 per cent. In football, you never what might happen next but I have never been anything else than focused at Celtic. It’s always been Celtic for me.
“I’ll never be in a hurry to leave this club. No matter what the situation is. But I can’t predict what will happen in the future.
“There was obviously a lot of talk at the start of the transfer window during pre-season, more than before, but for me it’s just about switching off and focusing on Celtic.
“When I got away from training, I would focus on day-to-day life and try not to think about anything else and get distracted.
“I wasn’t on Twitter for a couple of days. I was getting a bit of abuse but that happens. I’m still here, playing for this great club, giving everything every day at training.
“At the start of pre-season, people were coming up and asking me what was going to happen. It has died down. Nobody is talking about it so much now but if a supporter asks me, it doesn’t bother me.
“I’ll tell them the truth. I’m 100-per-cent committed to Celtic. That’s how it stands.’
KT at 21, stills lives at home with his parents in Wishaw and they still travel to the games on the local supporters bus. At some stage, probably more for football reasons than for the money, he may opt to play in a bigger league.
But he is a Celtic supporter playing for his club. He earns good money and is developing under a world class manager. There’s plenty of time further down the road for Tierney to move on from all of that to earn the ‘crazy’ money.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it? Absolutely crazy,” KT said.
“The money being spoken about and what you can earn in England is life-changing. However, the money I am on, for someone my age, is more than I ever thought I’d earn.
“My life has changed because of Celtic. I have them to thank for everything. I have given them everything, really all my life, and it’s paid off so far. I have enjoyed it.
“My dad and I mostly agree on everything. He has told me that it’s my career. It’s my choice and they will back me. That’s what you need. It’s great to know your family are going to have your back through thick and thin.
“I still live at home and I’m not planning to move out for a while. I can’t make a cup of tea. I can’t make my bed. But it’s important to switch off from all the talk.
“Whether anything is going to happen or not, a lot of people will be talking about you, folk ask me, so it’s going to affect you.
“I had the right people around me. My agent, family and friends. They support me.
“And there’s the manager. He has been brilliant with me in every situation. He’s a father-figure football-wise, I enjoyed working under him, I’ve enjoyed every single minute with him. He has made me a better player.
“Working under a captain like Scott Brown is amazing. I learn from him every day. He’s my hero.”
