Celtic ace Kieran Tierney rejected a move away last year, with Arsenal believed to be the club interested.
Kieran Tierney celebrates after Tomas Rogic scored the second goal for Celtic
Celtic full back Kieran Tierney has told the Daily Record that he rejected a move to a Premier League club – believed to be Arsenal – last summer in order to stay with the Bhoys.
Tierney, 19, has come up through the ranks with Celtic having moved from the Isle of Man at the age of just ten months, joining the Bhoys aged seven.
The left back has risen up through the ranks at Celtic Park, and has established himself as the club’s first-choice left back ahead of long-serving Emilio Izaguirre over the last two years.
Now a Scotland international and one of the top young players in Scottish football, Tierney has shown superb development under Brendan Rodgers, and speculation over his future has become the norm.
Celtic have lost the likes of Fraser Forster, Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama, Ki Sung-yueng and Gary Hooper to Premier League clubs over the last five years, and Tierney has been touted for a move to England too.
Now, Tierney has revealed to the Daily Record that he did in fact have an offer to leave Celtic last summer, but he had decided that he wanted to stay with his boyhood club and keep playing regularly.
General view of Celtic Park
Tierney revealed that he knew something special was happening at Celtic Park within ten minutes of speaking to Brendan Rodgers last summer, hence his decision to stay – though he did note that interest from other clubs.
The report notes that Arsenal were the club to move for Tierney with a £10million bid, and with the Gunners set to sign Sead Kolasinac on a free transfer from Schalke, Celtic will hope there is no more interest in their talented teenager this summer.
Rangers’ Matthew Gilks gathers from Celtic’s Kieran Tierney
“The manager came in last year and I had been told already there was a big bid there,” said Tierney. “It was a dream season for me last year individually and the manager said he wanted me to stay and sign a deal. As soon as I trained under him, there was no convincing needed. I was going to stay at Celtic anyway. It’s always flattering to hear other clubs are interested but I had no doubt in my mind I wanted to stay.”
“The money factor is what a lot of people care about. All I was working towards was earning a new deal at Celtic. I wasn’t looking to move somewhere else. The club could have brought in anybody as manager and I would have stayed but after speaking to Brendan I knew something special was happening. The way he spoke to me for 10 minutes after the first day at training was brilliant. That has continued all year,” he added.
How long do you think Celtic can keep Tierney?
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