The Celtic left-back has made quite the impact since bursting onto the scene with the Scottish Premiership champions.
Celtic fans are used to seeing their favourites depart on an almost annual basis, strengthening the Premier League’s mid table while forcing the Scottish champions to build again from the bottom up.
Therefore, reports that Chelsea and Bayern Munich had their beady eyes on teenage left-back Kieran Tierney was sure to cause some degree of concern. After all, it’s not every day you find yourself linked with two European champions at the top of their domestic leagues.
But that’s forgetting the fact that the 19-year-old left-back is a true bhoyhood fan. Hoops daft, as they might call him in the surrounds of Celtic Park.
“When you are younger some people dream about playing in the Premier League but I dreamt about playing for Celtic,” the fans favourite told the Daily Record.
He’s sacrificed a lot, too. Even his health. A stellar 2016 headlined by a debut league title, international and Champions League bows, ended with ligament damage and a prolonged period on the sidelines.
Veteran left-back Emilio Izaguirre and former academy team-mate Calvin Miller have stepped up in Tierney’s absence but he is more than willing to accept the odd negative in a burgeoning career filled with positivity. No pain, no gain as they say.
“If you told me I had to do my ligaments to play 55 games for Celtic, I would have done that, easy,” he added to the Daily Record.
“In some ways the break has actually been a positive. You can think about what you’ve achieved. It gives you time to take a step back and think. It’s been good in that sense.”
You can see why the fans like him. Explosive and exciting on the pitch, mature and modest off it.
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