Kieran Tierney

This is my concern also. Decent left-backs are not ten-a-penny and the realistic alternative to Tierney is a punt elsewhere. We took a £4m punt on Bernabei and look how that turned out. £10m on a proven player who counts towards our homegrown quota and may or may not miss a couple months every season is worth it by comparison.

 

That’s not the only realistic alternative to signing Tierney. Just because we spent £4m on an absolute dud does not mean we will spend the next £4m on a dud. We signed JJ for £2.5m and AJ for £3.5m. There are plenty of players out there who could do very well here.

 

Right, but they were to some degree punts. I don't think after watching his performances for Canada that many of us were sold on AJ as a replacement for JJ. My point is that in either scenario we are rolling the dice to some degree.

 

Aye but buying Tierney is more like Russian Roulette with a revolver and 6 turns. There's definitely a bullet in the gun and it can't be dodged.

At the price and wages it's insane. Whole world of footballers and we need to obsess about one that's perpertually injured and will literally cost an arm and a leg.

 

I agree you're definitely looking at a player with injury issues, but we're not talking Derk Boerrigter. The truth is, it's the only opportunity we'll have to sign a clear CL quality player at LB. I'd be willing to put up with the injuries to have a sure-thing quality player for 20 games a year and get other homegrown quota players (looking at Bain and MJ) off the books. I think that's a realistic way to look at what we're getting. Wages is the unknown factor that might change all that as we don't know what he'd accept.

 

I'd honestly far prefer if we gave Frame, or another youth prospect, game time and didn't try and sign a LB than look at Tierney.

If we are going to take risks then let's take risks that actually make a difference.

Tierney might be a possible "CL" quality signing but no guarantee he'll be fit to play those games.

I just find the idea of signing him as lacking any vision or practically. Thats not a good combination.

 

I agree it's not an original signing, but that might be because it's an obvious signing. Look at this way as well. We get a player who presumably will want to remain here throughout his prime and can potentially take over as captain. We don't need to worry about signing a talent at 21 who then leaves us at 23, which is what happens with most of our players of real quality. I get your argument and know I'm not going to win you over, but I think unless we've identified a clear talent who we want to bring in for that position, it's worth taking the risk to potentially raise the level substantially in a vulnerable position.

 

I don't think any of that makes sense

- We pay a record signing fee for a player with no resale value!
- Tierney isn't a captain - even if he was, probably not being available, with the main squad a high percentage makes making him captain a non-starter
- We buy a player who we need to pay premium salary to for 4 - 5 years, hamstringing us as a club for up to 4 - 5 years!
- Even when predicatabley they won't be available to earn that salary
- We ask a manager to depend on a player who is likely to be out for large, unpredicatble parts of the season!
- We buy a player who likely year on year be out for increasing parts of the seaon

Tierney's prime is behind him. I don't hold myself as being particularly knowlegeable about football but anyone who can't see that is blind, in my opinion.

People complain about the McCarthy contract but then ask us to sign Tierney!! Is anyone able to point to a similar case that ended well?

 

You're making out like the guy's completely finished, but the evidence doesn't support that.

If you add up all the days he's been out with injury since joining Arsenal, it averages out at about 75 days per calendar year. For reference, Kyogo and CCV have missed about 45 days on average, so it's hardly a crazy amount.

Despite having a bad season with it, he still played 16 games for a loan club, and last season he had no injuries at all. In the 4 years he was at Arsenal, he played 22.75 league games per season compared to 25 league games per season in his 4 years for us, so not a radical decline in availability. I've not seen anyone suggest that he's slowed down or can't do it anymore. It's not a question of whether he's still a quality player, it's whether he'll be available for selection in important games.

£10m is nothing if he finishes his career with us. We could pay £10m for him and still be £15m up on him off his last sale. As Celtic's his boyhood club and he's surplus to requirements at Arsenal, he'd likely accept a pay cut, the question is whether we could get him to accept a wage in line with our top earners.

He's always been identified as a future club leader and we need players that understand what it means to play for Celtic and are passionate about our club. After Forrest and McGregor, who fills that role? It bears thinking about.

If we can get a CL quality player, who's a homegrown talent, loves the club, is in his prime, raises the level in a problem position, and is fit for the majority of the season, we should absolutely go for it. There are conditionals about the fee, his wages, and fitness, but the idea that we shouldn't look into this at all doesn't seem to me to be a rational proposition.

 

I'm absolutely not saying he's completely finished. Just saying there are obvious likely outcomes if we sign him.

On your other points:

- He's always pushed himself, but I don't think KT is a leader at all. Never seen that in him and never heard it said of him. Maybe it has, just don't see it.
- He was definitely injured/out at his last loan so not sure where you are getting him not being injured
- From your calculation he's close to twice as injury prone as our other main players
- 10m would be our highest transfer fee paid, so definitely not nothing

 

Kieran Tierney has left the door open to a Celtic return - but insists he'd only return if he felt 100 percent.

The defender could well leave Arsenal this summer following a loan stint at Real Sociedad with manager Mikel Arteta ready to sanction his permanent exit should he find a club willing to buy. For the Hoops, a permanent transfer would be unlikely considering he left Parkhead back in 2019 for a £25million fee. A return to Glasgow would suit both the Scottish champions and KT himself as he admits to missing home


But the diehard supporter says it would be vitally important to be sure he's still as good as he was when he won trophies as a Celtic player because he feels so strongly about the club


I don’t regret it," he told The Athletic on leaving in 2019. "I still miss it but I knew life would never be the same. I was living my dream. Being a footballer is the dream but playing for Celtic was the ultimate.

"I left that to go and challenge myself in the Premier League and come up against the best to see how I’d cope. If I go back, I want to be feeling how I did there before.

"I’ll be a different player to what I was, as I’ve been away for years, but I wouldn’t want to go back if I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent in my body. I know the intensity and the demand to win so, if I go back, it will be when I’m still feeling good.”

 

Sounds like he want to come back to me. Could twist that either way tbh.

 

If it’s 10m would we not receive a percentage back for a sell on ? I’m sure we had a 10 or 15% sell on so maybe we would be 8.5m for him if that’s how it would work

 

Impressive man maths to make the deal go ahead

Bargain.

 

Yep, also talks about how he’s still in contact with Rodgers and Kennedy.

I can see this happening after the Euros

 

I was thinking this too when I read it.
Plus if he wants to come back I'm sure we can come to an arrangement with arsenal.
8-10 million is worth it to me.
Can talk injuries but his recent injuries have came from KT playing like KT....hard as *.
If we can keep him fit for 3/4 the season it's well worth it

 

Could he sign a pre contract in January?

 

The timing is either now or when he is 31-32. If we dont move now and he stay fit for a couple of months and pull off a few good performances his value will instantly sky rocket. I rather gamble now for the chance to see his value sky rocket as our player yet again.

 

yeah think with Livingston going down and plastic pitches being outed from next season will benefit him also, Taylor’s a very good back up so can rest him in games also

 

Depends if we had a deal to get a percentage of total fee or percentage of profit. Obviously in the latter case we would get nothing. If the former, we would indeed get some of our own money back.