Arsenal have bid farewell to Kieran Tierney, who has completed a permanent move back to Celtic. He signed a five-year deal with the Scottish champions.
Celtic confirmed the move on their official website, with Tierney returning to his boyhood club after spending five topsy-turvy years in north London.
Arsenal forked out £25 million to sign the Scotland international from Celtic back in 2019. At the time, Unai Emery was in charge of the Gunners and saw Tierney as a key addition to his squad.
With Tierney, Arsenal got a fiery, committed left-back with energy and grit. It wasn’t long until he became a fan favourite at the Emirates Stadium.
His warrior-like performances gave the Gunners faithful a glimpse of the mentality Arsenal wanted to build, and he played a key role in the club’s FA Cup final win against Chelsea in 2020.
But things started going downhill for Tierney due to recurring injury problems. He clocked up 144 appearances for Arsenal, returning six goals and 14 assists, but couldn’t catch a break with injuries.
Things got worse for Tierney when Mikel Arteta came in. The Spaniard brought in Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City to provide competition for the injury-prone Tierney.
The arrivals of versatile defenders Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori only pushed Tierney further down the pecking order, but Myles Lewis-Skelly’s emergence ultimately sealed his fate.
He spent a year on loan at Real Sociedad before returning to see out his contract at Arsenal.
Tierney was only afforded 20 appearances last season, but he signed off in style, scoring in his final Premier League outing against relegated Southampton.
The 28-year-old has now returned to Celtic as a more experienced full-back. He brings his experience from the top European leagues to help the Hoops maintain their stronghold on the Scottish Premiership.
“My ambition is just for Celtic to be as successful as possible, retain our place at the top and continue to win trophies and do well for Celtic,” he said after rejoining Celtic.
“I’ll try and work my hardest, I’ll do my best for the club, and that’s all I can do.”