Why Celtic’s January move for Kieran Tierney hinges on a £30m Arsenal transfer deal

Add as preferred source on Google

Kieran Tierney is widely expected to leave Arsenal for Celtic.

The Scotland defender has been heavily linked with return to Glasgow and it seems that Tierney is very keen to return to Celtic.

Tierney was told by Arsenal earlier this season that they are not going to trigger the option to extend his deal for another year. This immediately led to speculation that a Celtic Park return could be on for the Arsenal defender.

Since then, Fabrizio Romano has said that Tierney to Celtic is ‘on’ with Alex Valle set to head to Como on loan to help facilitate the deal.

However, in a late twist, it appears that the deal to land the Celtic hero in January could be up in the air as Arsenal could be set to sell one of their first-team players in a £30m transfer.

• READ MORE: Jota to Celtic nears as contract details emerge, announcement timeline

Arsenal’s potential sale of Oleksandr Zinchenko could ‘scupper’ Tierney to Celtic deal

According to the Daily Record, Arsenal could be about to sell Oleksander Zinchenko to either Atletico Madrid or Borussia Dortmund for £30m in the Janaury transfer window.

Should the sale go ahead, Mikel Arteta would be left with just Tierney and young fullback Myles Lewis-Skelly for the title run-in.

However, the Gunners do have Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Callafiori who can play the left fullback role which has given Brendan Rodgers hope that a deal can still be struck to bring Tierney to Celtic on loan in January before completing a Bosman move at the end of the Arsenal man’s contract.

What has been said about Kieran Tierney’s Celtic return as fan excitement builds

There has been plenty said about Tierney coming back to Celtic ever since Arsenal made a decision on the Scotland defender’s future.

Journalist, Roger Hannah, is convinced Tierney will be a Celtic player before the transfer window closes this month as Barry Ferguson fears the move for the Bhoys hero.

Hoops boss Rodgers refused to be drawn into the Tierney talk as he reiterated his commitment to Alex Valle’s loan move as Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was forced to say Tierney was his player after Celtic the speculation reached his ears.

With many Celtic fans raising concerns about his fitness, those concerns were blown apart after 67 Hail Hail published a piece about Tierney’s appearance stats at the Gunners that allayed those concerns.

With Greg Taylor’s Celtic future uncertain, the signing of Kieran Tierney will future-proof the club should Taylor decide to play his future elsewhere next season.