LAST SUMMER Kieran Tierney left Celtic for Arsenal in a £25m move as the left-back swapped Glasgow for London. Tierney had broken through and enjoyed a staggering rise to the top of Scottish football before becoming the largest export, eclipsing Oli McBurnie £20m fee paid by Sheffield United days earlier.
Tierney was transformed from breakthrough starlet to fully fledged first team star under the tutelage of Brendan Rodgers. The Irishman’s arrival in May 2016 sparked Tierney’s rapid acceleration to becoming one of Celtic’s best players and prized assets.
The move last summer was a sore one for the Celtic support but Tierney appeared ready to try himself at a new club and a higher level; unfortunately the move has not been as successful as Tierney or Arsenal would like and now, it is being discussed that the North London side might be willing to cut their losses and sell Tierney.
Transfer Window Podcast have said that Tierney is a target for Leicester City and Brendan Rodgers as the Irishman looks to replace the sought after Ben Chilwell. Chilwell has been heavily linked with Frank Lampard’s Chelsea and the podcast says that a move is likely this summer.
This means that Celtic could miss out on their sell-on fee for Tierney should a move transpire for the left-back. Back in August of last year, the Sun reported that Celtic had 15% sell-on clause for Tierney although it is expected that this is against profit of sale – so not the amount they sell him for but the profit they make on selling him.
Arsenal have already been touted as the favourites to sign Ajax left-back Nicolas Tagliafico despite Mikel Arteta saying Tierney was a ‘special’ player. The Emirates club haven’t received the value back from Tierney as he has been limited in game time meaning that they could just cut their losses and sell him on, especially given interest in other left backs.
Tierney has been plagued with injuries in London, arriving with a hernia and then dislocating his shoulder after just 8 appearances. Unai Emery signed Tierney but the Spaniard was sacked and replaced with Arteta, a man who will want to put his own stamp on proceedings at the Emirates.
If the value is high enough, Celtic could make a small amount back but it remains to be seen if there is anything concrete behind the interest in Tierney and whether Arsenal would part with the player. Hopefully, for Celtic’s sake, they hang onto Tierney enough to see a return in their investment. As Leicester are a rival of Arsenal’s, they may look to get them to pay through the nose for Tierney but in the post-Coronavirus market, it is expected that transfer fees will take a dip.
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— The Celtic Star Editor – INVINCIBLE (@CelticStarMag) June 3, 2020