Everton tried and failed to sign Celtic’s Scottish Premiership winner Kieran Tierney as they searched for a left-back this summer.
Understandably given the over-reliance on the ageing Leighton Baines, Marco Silva made signing a left-back one of his top priorities when he was appointed by Everton at the start of the summer.
And, in the £18 million former Barcelona man Lucas Digne, the Toffees finally got their man. But it seems that Kieran Tierney was the player Silva really wanted at Goodison Park.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Everton only turned their attention to Digne after holding preliminary talks with Celtic’s influential number 63. It is claimed that the Merseyside club actually walked away from a potential deal for Tierney due to concerns about his price-tag.
The Scottish Premiership champions were understood to be demanding around £25 million for the 21-year-old, according to the Times, who assisted 11 goals in 55 games in all competitions last season.
But, in today’s market, £25 million is not an unreasonable fee for a player of Tierney’s quality and potential. You could certainly make the argument that he is a more promising talent than Digne, who has already failed to make a mark in spells at PSG and Barcelona.
Tierney is the best left-back in Scotland and one of the best in his position anywhere in the UK.
Why no Premier League club has seemingly been willing to meet Celtic’s price-tag seems a little odd when you consider some of the other fees flying around for young players these days. Everton themselves have paid more than £25 million for Richarlison, Yannick Bolasie, Michael Keane, Jordan Pickford, Yerry Mina and Gylfi Sigurdsson in the year or so after all.
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