Brendan Rodgers has addressed increasing links involving a potential Kieran Tierney Celtic return and has delved into the potential for the Bhoys to recruit in January.
Transfer window build-up is the order of the day at Parkhead and there have been a fair share of names mentioned in connection with the Scottish Premiership champions, including Bhoys targets Sondre Ørjasæter and Michel Ange Balikwisha.
However, the landmark story leading up to January emerged yesterday when reports started to mount stating Celtic are exploring loan and pre-contract options for Kieran Tierney after Arsenal didn’t activate his one-year extension clause, leaving him set to become a free agent next summer.
Kieran Tierney of Arsenal during a training session at Sobha Realty Training Centre on December 07, 2024 in London Colney, England.
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Intriguingly, Tierney is ‘open’ to taking a substantial wage cut to seal a Celtic move, but it still remains to be seen if accelerating rumours will turn into something more substantial when the window opens next month.
Speaking ahead of Celtic’s trip to face Dundee United, Brendan Rodgers may have offered one or two clues over potential transfer business at the reigning Scottish Premiership champions.
Brendan Rodgers addresses Kieran Tierney Celtic links
In conversation with Sky Sports, Rodgers refused to be drawn on a potential return to Celtic for Tierney but did make clear his club has ‘work to do’ in January, and the Scotland international is someone he is very up to date on.
He stated: “Well, Kieran’s someone I know really well, but there’ll be lots of players that are linked with coming to Celtic, so we will never speak about a player, especially a young player that is at another club.
🗣️ "We have work to do. We want to improve the squad further."
Brendan Rodgers on Celtic's January transfer window plans and a potential return for Kieran Tierney ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/xqXYXq7HO9
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 20, 2024
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“But, we’ve got work to do; we know that, we want to improve the squad further and a number of key areas.
“Until that happens, the players here have been working so well and we’ll just continue to work with them and see what happens in January.”
Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic transfer update will breed optimism
Now, he hasn’t either confirmed or denied anything regarding Tierney, but Rodgers’ desire to improve the squad further does lend credence to the thought process that some exciting new arrivals could make their way to Parkhead next month.
Looking at his comments on Tierney specifically, Rodgers said something very similar about Kasper Schmeichel back in the summer before he arrived to replace Joe Hart after the Bhoys’ pre-season friendly at Ayr United.
He said when asked about Celtic’s search for a new goalkeeper: “Kasper’s a very, very good one. I know Kasper very well. But there are lots of names. and clearly I’m not going to tell you who those names are.”
There are very close similarities here as you can see. Nobody is saying any pursuit for Tierney will pan out the same way, but it does leave food for thought heading into the mid-season window.
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