Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers revealed he spoke with Kieran Tierney this week after Arsenal qualified for the Champions League semi-final following a stunning two-legged victory over Real Madrid…
Rodgers is also confident that Greg Taylor’s strong character will allow him to work seamlessly alongside Kieran Tierney. However, the manager concedes that the matter is beyond his control as he awaits clarity on the future of his current left-back.
Celtic have secured Kieran Tierney on a pre-contract from Arsenal, as the former fan favourite continues to help the Gunners in their quest of winning the Champions League come June.
Rodgers believes both players can play a major role for Celtic
Rodgers is keen to have Greg Taylor involved in the long-term working with KT, but that remains uncertain as a contract extension has yet to be finalised.
The Celtic manager joked that his wingers are on alert because of Tierney’s recent attacking contributions. Rodgers said: “I was in contact with him during the week and told him our wingers are very scared now! Because he’s playing on the left and the right.”
“Kieran plays his role. It’s a different type of role”
However, the idea of him pairing up with Taylor as left-backs is what the Celtic boss wants for next season, as he went on to explain: “Kieran plays his role. It’s a different type of role. He can do that, he can jump on the inside and be outside.”
“He has different strengths and qualities. When you are trying to build a squad, you are trying to have different strengths within it. Kieran has pace, power and running ability. He also has a passion for the club and can’t wait to be here.”
“We will improve as a squad when he comes back”
“Irrelevant of his experiences, we will improve as a squad when he comes back. I’m just really pleased for him. It was a fantastic performance by Arsenal [against Real Madrid]over the two legs and to see him be involved in that is obviously a great experience for him. It’s going to be a really exciting last couple of months for him there.”
“We know what we are getting with Kieran”
Rodgers added: “We know what we are getting with Kieran. He’s a player with great experience because every single week in the Premier League is like a big European game.”
“It’s so challenging and testing and he’s had a number of years of that. We are getting him back at a brilliant age and, hopefully, he can help this squad achieve a lot more. But we also need a squad of players and it can dovetail perfectly with someone like Greg. But we have to wait and see.”
Conor Spence
Help raise funds for Celtic Youth Academy by playing the Celtic Pools Weekly Lottery and you could win up to £25,000. The lottery is £1 per week. Click on image above to join.
Introducing The Celtic Star App and our new ad-free Premium Service...
Go ad-free on The Celtic Star, get a FREE trial period to try it out. Also download our new App – available for both Apple and Android – and get the best Celtic content on your phone without fighting through pop-up ads and being forced to watch videos.
Our new PREMIUM service comes with a free seven-day trial so you can look before you book. If you are happy to continue the price will be just 99p per month or £9.99 for the year. For that you get an AD-FREE SITE plus access to our premium content, and you’ll also help us make The Celtic Star even better and less reliant on advertising revenues, allowing us to be more focused on publishing the best Celtic features on the internet.
Click HERE to access your FREE trial. We think you’ll like it! We’re Obsessed with Celtic and we think you are too! Join us hand in hand...
