Kieran Tierney’s time at Celtic could be coming to an end with the vultures circling.
The likes of Napoli and Arsenal have both been linked over the last 24 hours regarding a move for Celtic’s superstar left-back (Scottish Sun). The latest of those proposed offers, however, shouldn’t even be considered by the Parkhead side.
Arsenal have been linked with a move for Tierney that could involve one of their youngsters. According to the Scottish Sun, the Emirates outfit could be prepared to loan Celtic one of four out-of-favour stars.
These involve right-backs Carl Jenkinson and Jordi Osei-Tutu, midfielder Emile Smith Rowe, and striker Eddie Nketiah. The Sun have Tierney rated at £25m. But if that’s the offer that Arsenal try to come in with, Celtic should rebuff it without a moment of hesitation.
If Arsenal are trying to dangle a couple of right-backs in front of us too, then there’s no point in accepting. After all, in a year’s time, Celtic would just be left in the same situation minus Tierney. When it comes to upgrading at right-back, you would hope that the club would come up with a more permanent solution. And even if they were prepared to listen to a permanent deal for Jenkinson, we could do better.
Then there are the other names on Arsenal’s list in Rowe and Nketiah. Rowe is a midfielder, and the last thing we need is a one-year loan deal for yet another central midfielder. Nketiah, meanwhile, is a striker. We already have three of those currently in the first-team squad.
None of the loan stars stand out
Not one of the players should overly-appeal to the Hoops. And if we did accept, it would still leave us in the position of needing two left-backs. Tierney departing would mean that Celtic only have Jonny Hayes as a replacement. Whilst Hayes is capable here and there, it’s not something that should become permanent.
Celtic would need to try and splash heavy cash on a Tierney replacement as well as decent quality cover too.
It’s also worth remembering that Celtic have Tierney tied up until 2023. He shouldn’t be going for anything less than top dollar, especially when you look at the clubs interested in him.
And unless Arsenal hit that £30m mark or so, are we truly getting Tierney’s worth? You could say that’s an optimistic price-tag for a player who hasn’t played outside of Scotland. But the truth is we all know what Tierney is capable of.
He’s performed against the likes of Manchester City, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona to name a few. He hasn’t once let Celtic down since breaking into the first-team under Ronny Deila. His future, as it stands, is limitless.
So if Arsenal think dangling some potential loan stars for a year is going to help sway Tierney to them, Celtic should send them back to think again. His value is worth a lot more than that, and we should just be looking at a flat-out cash sum.
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