Celtic’s pursuit of Kieran Tierney has made headlines this window as the prospect of a reunion between the Scotland international and Brendan Rodgers leaves fans waiting on tenterhooks.
Despite his recent return from an injury setback, Arsenal decided not to renew the 27-year-old’s contract and he is now set to leave the Emirates Stadium as a free agent this summer.
According to reports, Celtic are in negotiations over a pre-contract for Kieran Tierney and want to nail down his long-term destiny as a priority before a decision is made on his immediate future.
Should all go to plan, you would imagine it will be left to both clubs on whether a loan move to Parkhead could fall within the realm of viability this month.
Brendan Rodgers has to juggle his priorities and will likely continue to sidestep media questions on the matter until confirmation is ready to be released into the public domain.
However, with the odds of Celtic landing Tierney appearing favourable at this point, Stephen McGinn can’t help but be surprised at one detail of the prospective move.
Stephen McGinn’s surprise at Kieran Tierney Celtic pursuit
Speaking on the Scottish Football Podcast, McGinn is dumbfounded that more clubs from the Premier League in England haven’t taken note of Tierney’s situation despite the fact he could be a financially advantageous solution in the left-back position.
He said: “I was a bit surprised. I mean, the fact that fans are singing means it’s a good day, sometimes they’re just booing you directly.
“I didn’t really read into it too much, my take on it was that Celtic fans were really excited for him to come back. Especially, that particular section of the home support, Kieran Tierney really bought into what they were doing and had a relationship with them and I just think there was excitement for a player that probably in the current market, Celtic shouldn’t be able to get.
“They’re getting him because the guy at heart is a Celtic fan. You look at squads around England, FFP, even as your backup left-back, there are Premier League clubs that would pay him more than Celtic would pay him as a squad player. I took the positives out of the fan support for Kieran Tierney.”
Celtic’s emotional pull could be decisive in Tierney pursuit
McGinn is probably correct in the respect that Tierney’s previous connection to Celtic has given the Bhoys a major advantage in the chase for his signature.
Combining that with his availability on a pre-contract, the Scottish Premiership champions could land a player in his prime who is definitely in the bracket of ‘Premier League calibre’ this month, for lack of a better term.
Undoubtedly, Tierney’s career injury record has also contributed to the fact he could leave Arsenal, though he has played 149 matches across the last five campaigns, proving one or two wrong about the extent of his fitness problems.
Either way, all supporters can do now is wait for an update on Tierney’s future as the window starts to take shape.
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