Arsenal star Tierney 'would want to come back to Celtic'

Stuart Telford

• 14 Jul 2023 21:49 BST
• 3 min read

Kieran Tierney has been linked with a sensational return to Celtic with Brendan Rodgers tipped to get the best out of the Scotland left-back.

Tierney remains Celtic's record sale after completing a 25 million transfer to Arsenal in 2019, and his first few seasons at North London were a resounding success.

But he lost his place to Oleksandr Zinchenko following the Ukrainian's arrival from Manchester City last summer, and has since been linked with moves to Manchester City and Newcastle, as well as Celtic.

READ: EXCLUSIVE: Kieran Tierney talks to STAY at Arsenal 'progressing well'

Cetlic might not be able to compete with the Premier League's finances - their highest paid player Callum McGregor's £32,000-a-week wage is £78,000 less than Tierney currently makes - but that might not matter according to Celtic legend Peter Grant.

'A football decision' for Tierney

"It's still a healthy wage bracket, but I think Kieran will have enough money," he told The Go Radio Football Show. "You always like to look after yourself and your family because you're retired a long time as a footballer.

"[But] I look at Kieran Tierney and I think it'll be a football decision and not a financial decision. That's the hope that you have. He's the type of player that would want to come back to Celtic."

READ: Havertz, Rice and Timber: Is Arteta trying to rip off Guardiola?

Tierney is valued at €33.5m (£28.7m) by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, which puts him some way clear of the club record £8m they paid Paris Saint-Germain for Odsonne Edouard in 2018, and Grant had no answer for how they might fund his transfer.

Grant did say that he thought Tierney and Greg Taylor could play in the same side under Rodgers - who has returned to replace Tottenham Hotspur-bound Ange Postecoglou - but the player has reportedly been promised something similar by Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal's signings of Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber suggest that Arteta might implement Pep Guardiola's 3-2-4-1 at times next season, and Tierney could get minutes at left centre-back as he does for Scotland with Andy Robertson for company.