Kieran Tierney has completed a record-breaking move from Celtic to Arsenal, the London club have confirmed.
The left-back has departed Celtic Park for the Emirates for a fee of £25million – the highest ever shelled out for a Scottish player.
Arsenal confirmed the news Celtic fans were dreading on Thursday afternoon.
Celtic also confirmed the news shortly after via a statement on the club’s website:
“Celtic Football Club today confirmed that Kieran Tierney has signed for Arsenal FC, after completing a medical earlier in London.
“We did all we could to keep Kieran at Celtic. While the club did not need or wish to sell Kieran, this was an opportunity which Kieran very much wished to pursue and with the club having received a significant offer, we have agreed to the transfer.
“Kieran has been a big part of the club for a number of years, coming through our Academy structure and becoming a key first team player of real quality.
“He has made a significant contribution to Celtic and we thank him very much for all he has given to the club and, of course, we wish him very well for the future in his career.”
Tierney will be remembered fondly at Celtic
Tierney leaves the Hoops after playing 170 times over five seasons. He started 166 matches and scored eight goals – the most recent of which came against RB Leipzig in November. Tierney made his debut for the club at the age of 17 in 2015 and scored his first goal against Motherwell a year later.
He helped the Hoops to win ten trophies under three different managers in his time at the club and will be remembered fondly by fans.
Attention will now turn to what Celtic have to do to fill the void left by the 22-year-old. Tierney missed more than a third of the club’s matches through injury last season and hadn’t featured since May, so it may be easier than some think to replace him.
Neil Lennon has Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo and Jonny Hayes who can play at left-back but he is likely to search for reinforcements in the coming weeks.
The Scottish transfer window has around three weeks to run before shutting on September 2nd.
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