Celtic love bringing back a player to their shores.
In the winter, Jota made a comeback after his trips to Saudi Arabia and France, and now Kieran Tierney will return to his boyhood club in the summer.
Tierney’s contract at Arsenal expires at the end of June, after joining the London club from Celtic in 2019 for a transfer fee of £25 million, so to get him back for nothing is a masterstroke from the club.
The 27-year-old has had a mixed time of it in the Premier League, mainly because injuries hampered him, and then he fell down the pecking order under Mikel Arteta.
That’s why he was out on loan in Spain at Real Sociedad last season, before getting injured with Scotland at Euro 2024, and then returning to play for the Gunners after nearly two years in December.
Despite all of that, Tierney is still a much-loved figure, and whilst Arsenal fans will be gutted to let him go, the Celtic Park faithful will be glad to have him back.
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Martin Keown states whether Arsenal are right to let Kieran Tierney join Celtic
Arsenal have a plethora of left-backs to choose from, including the club’s rising teenage star Myles Lewis-Skelly.
But that shouldn’t hide away from the fact that Tierney has performed very well any time he has been given a chance.
MORE CELTIC STORIES
Martin Keown still believes that it is the right time for Tierney to head for the exit door, and he can see ‘sense’ in it, as he told talkSPORT.
“But he (Arteta) is letting him (Tierney) go,” said Keown.
“I can see sense in that. But I think he can hold his head up high. The fans have always loved him, as they will do. It’s typical of the Arsenal fans. If you are 100 per cent. They will get right in your corner.
“I probably feel that he is going to go back to Scotland. It will probably be Celtic. His beloved Celtic. We wish him well.”
Keown wished he had ‘helped’ Tierney more
Keown donned Arsenal’s colours for many years, and he was a huge success under Arsene Wenger, so he understands all those pressures.
But the former centre-back shared that he has had the odd conversation with Tierney, and how he wished that he had ‘helped’ him more.
Keown wanted to give the Celtic hero his flowers for still going at it and earning minutes for Arsenal, despite his situation.
On having the odd chat with Tierney: “As a former player, you are a bit arms length,” said Keown.
“I would like to have helped more. He is somebody who I could see that worth ethic that he had. That desire in his play. I think that’s been rewarded.
“It has been five or six seasons that he has been at the football club. It was clear that Arteta wanted to go in a different direction, and a different type of fullback to invert, and he wants to get down that line.
“In recent weeks, he has had a lot of games where he has come off the bench, and the manager could have chosen others, but he has looked to Kieran to bring on. That’s testament to him really. He is the sort of person you want in the building.”