Kieran Tierney’s Arsenal spell coming to an end, Celtic return rated

Originally posted on The Celtic Star | Last updated 3/6/24

Former Celtic defender Kieran Tierney looks set to depart Arsenal. Reports have stated that the left-back is on a list of players to be sold in the summer as Arteta continues to build the club in his image.

Arsenal insider Charles Watts has stated on YouTube that Kieran Tierney’s time at the club is coming to an end. The Scotland Internationalist joined the Premier League club in the summer of 2019 under Unai Emery; however, he has fallen out of the picture under Arteta.

“I think Tierney’s time at Arsenal is coming to an end. I don’t know where he’s going to go in the summer, Arsenal are open to selling him permanently. Last summer they couldn’t do that, no real bids came in for him, so they sent him off to Sociedad.

“Whether Sociedad will turn out permanently in the summer, we’ll have to wait and see. He’s made a good impact there, but he has had injuries again which have disrupted his season…I don’t see a way back for him at Arsenal.”

Tierney was an unused sub as Real Sociedad exited the UEFA Champions League to PSG with Javi Galán having started at left-back. Since joining the Basque club on a season-long loan deal, KT has made 18 appearances making just 1 assist. Galan meanwhile has made 10 appearances since arriving from Atletico Madrid in the January window.

In his time at Arsenal, Tierney has made 124 appearances, scoring on 5 occasions and assisting 14 times.

In truth, the player played his best and most consistent football at Celtic, where he made 170 appearances, scored 8 goals and assisted 37 times. It always felt that the player might come back to the club, such was his connection with Celtic. However, given the injuries that have plighted his ascendency to the very top of the game, he may fancy returning to Scotland and reuniting with Brendan Rodgers.

A TeamTalk article suggested that Arsenal would want £30m for the player but that is fanciful, they would struggle to get a fee like this for a peripheral first team player. Rodgers and KT are close, with the Irishman commenting on his quality last year. The move would address the depth issue at left-back, while also allowing for Tierney’s games to be managed as not to aggravate any more injuries.

A loan with an obligation to buy at the end of the season (where Tierney has one year left) would be a prudent move by the club and should not be overlooked. Arsenal want rid and the player’s own connection with Celtic should be played upon to bring him back and help the club push on to achieve the ambitions of the manager and the support.

This article first appeared on The Celtic Star and was syndicated with permission.

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