Aston Villa's John McGinn Makes Kieran Tierney to Celtic Claim

Summer has seemingly arrived early for Celtic this year as they look forward to building their squad for a long and intense 2025/26 season. Brendan Rodgers has already made his plans clear as he looks to end the campaign on a high after an underwhelming second half of the season and go for a rebuild as soon as possible.

Celtic's efforts have also turned some heads as they signed Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney on a pre-contract. A move of that magnitude rarely happens in Scottish football.

As it turns out, Tierney's fellow countryman and Aston Villa midfielder, John McGinn, has also been keeping tabs on news back home.

In a recent interview with the Sunday Post (via Daily Record), McGinn talked about Tierney's return to Celtic, as the Aston Villa captain said:  "I'm really pleased for Kieran. He is an unbelievable footballer and totally dedicated to his profession.

"Celtic is his club, and I would imagine he is really excited about going back and playing again under Brendan Rodgers.

"I've no doubt Kieran will add extra quality to the squad, and his experience will be invaluable as they push towards remaining the dominant team in the country.

"It's also about progress in Europe, and Kieran will want to help the club into the Champions League. It's the tournament every footballer wants to be involved in.

"So, I wish Kieran well, but he also has plenty to look forward to with Arsenal in the next few weeks, and he'll be desperate to go out on a high."

The Celts are on track for a domestic treble this season but Rodgers has sounded concerned for some time now regarding the team's performance during the second half of the campaign as the players have often looked like mere shadows of themselves during the course of a long and intensive season.

With the signing of Tierney, Celtic will be looking to add that big game experience to the squad which they somewhat lacked during the high-intensity games of the Champions League.

If they're able to extend Greg Taylor's contract, it will be the perfect icing on the cake as they will have a well-secured left-back position for the upcoming season.

While Tierney's signing has been made official, Taylor's contract extension is still up in the air. The Celtic manager will be hoping that the long-time left-back stays at the club and helps in keeping their stronghold in Scotland for many more years to come.