Kieran Tierney won’t be moving to Napoli this summer.
That’s after Azzurri boss Carlo Ancelotti ruled out a move for the 22-year-old.
Napoli were reported to have been interesting in the full-back’s services throughout the summer but the Italian put an end to that speculation, while on Scottish shores.
The Daily Record have some quotes from the former Real Madrid manager speaking after his current side’s 3-0 win over Liverpool in Edinburgh on Sunday.
He said: “Am I aware of Kieran Tierney? I know him and he is a really good player. He is a really good young left back but he is a Celtic player.
“We are looking for a lot of players for this coming season but he is a Celtic player and we have two good left backs.
“But honestly I can say he is a really good player.”
Napoli aren’t the only team not to bid for Tierney
It’s king of strange that all the chat around Tierney this summer hasn’t alerted more clubs to his availability.
Celtic have been very clear from the outset that they would accept offers of around £25million for his services. Such a fee would be a Scottish record but it’s still not a massive amount in the scale of things. So what’s holding other teams back?
The obvious reason is his fitness. The 22-year-old missed over a third of his club side’s matches last season – and played a fair few of his matches while not at peak fitness.
He underwent a double hernia operation in the summer and it is not yet clear how he has responded to that. There are lingering fears over the left-back’s future and they will only be settled by a strong showing this season.
That may be the reason why Arsenal don’t feel it’s right to shell out the full amount for him this summer, with large bonus add-ons reported to be part of their earlier offers.
Celtic fans will just be hoping that Tierney can re-find his fitness while wearing the green and white hoops this season.
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