Celtic are going to face a tough battle to keep Kieran Tierney at Parkhead. The left-back is being targetted by Premier League clubs including Arsenal and Leicester City. Once Brendan Rodgers was confirmed as the Leicester boss, it was expected that he would come for some Celtic players and Tierney must have been high on his list.
The Foxes though wanted Kieran Tierney to replace Ben Chilwell who was being linked with a move to Manchester City. The Premier League champions have been keeping tabs on the English fullback for quite some time, and quite a few of us thought that it was only a matter of time before the Citizens would come up with a bid for the 22-year-old English defender.
What is the good piece of news for Lennon?
Therefore Rodgers saw Tierney as a possible replacement for Chilwell. However, Celtic are likely to get a massive relief as reports from the Evening Standard conveys that Pep Guardiola has decided to end his pursuit for the Leicester defender.
The Spanish manager is said to be happy with Oleksandr Zinchenko’s performance since the turn of the year, and he is also willing to hand Benjamin Mendy another opportunity to prove himself after his injury-ridden two seasons at the Etihad. Zinchenko is set to be given a new, improved deal as he filled in well in the left-back role last season in the absence of the injured Mendy.
With Chilwell now expected to stay at the King Power Stadium, we don’t expect Rodgers to come after Tierney. Therefore this should come as a big boost for the club for the next season. Tierney missed quite a few games due to injury last season, but he continued to be an influential player for the Hoops.
He wasn’t at his productive best, though, as he managed just one goal and six assists. Nevertheless, his overall contribution was still a significant one.
At 22, he is even captaining the Celtic side in the absence of Scott Brown, and Lennon should try to keep him for as long as possible. However, there is a sense of inevitability that the Scotsman would depart from the club one day for bigger and better things. But he is still 22 and has a lot of time on his hand to play for the top clubs so Celtic would hope that they can eke out a few more years from their academy graduate.
