Celtic’s Kieran Tierney has been linked with a move to the Premier League.
According to several reports including Sky Sports, Celtic’s highly-rated left-back Kieran Tierney has been linked with a move to the Premier League this summer with Manchester United a potential candidate.
It is expected that the Scotland international remains at Celtic Park though after committing to the Hoops, though the Scottish Premiership champions must be realistic about their chances of holding on to him long-term.
Tierney will outgrow Celtic considering his current ability and enormous potential, and the prospect of playing in the Premier League and possibly at a top European club must have crossed his mind more than once.
Celtic would be wise to consider looking at potential long-term replacements as early as this summer, and one player who could be a realistic target is Mexico international Jesus Gallardo.
The 23-year-old shone during Mexico’s opening 1-0 World Cup victory over reigning champions Germany in Moscow, contributing with seven effective clearances and a whopping nine interceptions (Whoscored).
Gallardo was tasked with dealing with Germany’s threat down the right side, mainly coming from the likes of Bayern Munich duo Thomas Muller and Joshua Kimmich before Marco Reus was introduced.
The talented left-back dealt with them all, displaying plenty of courage, intensity and passion in the tackle while in possession he was more than willing to venture forward with three successful take-ons and one chance created.
Gallardo has an abundance of ability and loads of potential, yet he still finds himself playing in the Mexican league having recently signed for Monterrey from Mexico City-based club Pumas UNAM.
While Celtic will expect to hold on to Tierney for at least another 12 months, due to Gallardo’s recent arranged transfer he is likely to remain in Mexico until at least next summer regardless of how he performs at the World Cup.
He could be a player who goes under the radar for top European clubs, and such a scenario would allow Celtic to track his progress and look to seek a potentially bargain deal when the time comes for Tierney to move on.
The Hoops have tapped into the Mexican market before bringing in Efrain Juarez, also a former Pumas UNAM player, though Gallardo has far bigger potential and already looks at home against the world’s top players.
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