Ronny Deila comments on Celtic ace Kieran Tierney

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Reported Arsenal target and Celtic defender Kieran Tierney has a better mentality than Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk, suggests Ronny Deila.

Ronny Deila has suggested to The Scottish Sun that Celtic defender Kieran Tierney had a better mentality than Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk when the Dutchman was at the Hoops.

Deila was in charge of Celtic from the summer of 2014 until the end of the 2015-16 campaign, and he worked with both Scotland international left-back Tierney and Netherlands international central defender Van Dijk.

Van Dijk is now at Liverpool, having joined the Reds from fellow Premier League club Southampton in January 2018 for a transfer fee reported by BBC Sport to be worth £75 million.

As for Tierney, who is one of the best young players in Europe, The Scottish Sun has claimed of interest from Arsenal in the Scotland international left-back, and has reported that the Gunners are preparing a third bid for the 22-year-old left-back.

Former Celtic manager Deila rates Tierney highly, and he believes that the youngster will be a success for North London outfit Arsenal in the Premier League.

Deila told The Scottish Sun: “Kieran would be really, really good at Arsenal — I know it. He needs to improve a little bit technically, still. But at the same time he has everything else already and will learn the rest.

“I think Kieran has an even better mentality than Virgil. That’s what I saw at that time. Virgil, of course, has gone on to a different level since leaving Celtic, but at the time I worked with them both Kieran was even better.

“They both had the physical attributes to play at the highest level. Virgil had everything. But Tierney has the same.”