According to the latest reports from the Scottish Sun, Arsenal have made a record-breaking bid of £25m for Celtic’s star fullback Kieran Tierney. The Gunners had made the first bid of £15m a few weeks earlier, but Celtic stuck to their asking price. Now it seems like Arsenal have decided to cut the foreplay, and they have gone for the jugular to seal this deal. £25m will make Tierney the biggest transfer in Scottish football history
Sources at Parkhead mention that it is almost inevitable that Tierney will be heading to the Premier League after breaking through for Celtic. The defender is currently suffering from a pelvic injury which troubled him last season as well.
Is £25m the right price?
This is not the first time that Tierney has drawn interest from the Premier League clubs as last season Everton tried their luck with the fullback. The 22-year-old is still on a long term contract with the Hoops which runs until 2023 so many might feel that Celtic could have probably demanded more in the transfer window.
Moreover, the kind of money which is being thrown around in this transfer window, we felt that the club could have got somewhere around £30-35m for Tierney. The fullback is still in his early twenties, and we think that Celtic could have eked out one more season out of him if their asking price of close to £30m wasn’t met.
This is the season the Hoops themselves are going through a significant rebuilding phase, and they will need to add another left-back after the signing of Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo. We have seen how bringing in players haven’t been easy for Celtic as they have struggled to solve their right back problem for an over a year now and they are yet to sign anyone in the transfer market for that position.
What now for Lennon?
£25m is still a decent sum of money, and if the club can invest it smartly in the squad, then it would be appreciated by the fans. The club had received a similar sum from Lyon last summer for Moussa Dembele, but quite a fair bit of it is yet to be invested in the squad.
Celtic can probably look to sign a backup left back, a first choice right back and a dynamic midfielder if the sale of Tierney goes through. The club should seek to bring in players who would hit the ground running straightaway instead of ‘potential prospects’. The Hoops have made too many argy-bargy signings in the last few windows, and it is time for the club to bring in top options.
