Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney will sign a pre-contract that will take him to Celtic on a free transfer this summer, according to the report.
The Scottish representative arrived in Arsenal 2019, leaving his boyhood club for a fee of around £25m. Tierney spent last season on loan in La Liga with Real Sociedad, but his impact in the Basque Country was hampered by injury – a cruel fate that cut short his entire Gunners career.
Tierney has missed at least ten games due to fitness problems in all but one of his five full seasons in the English capital. Mikel Arteta has rarely turned to full-back in recent years, instead deploying players who are more comfortable roaming the middle.
Arsenal decided against activating a one-year extension on Tierney’s existing contract, which is set to expire in June. Celtic was very connected with a move for their academy degree, and now The Telegraph claim the left-back is “on the verge” of agreeing a return to Glasgow.
Already in the final six months of his Arsenal contract, Tierney can sign a pre-contract with any club outside England before joining his future employers in the summer. Fellow midfielders Thomas Partey and Jorginho are in the same position as their Scottish team-mate, although the latter with respect to the output this month.
Bayer Leverkusen, Sevilla and Juventus reportedly showed interest in Tierney before he settled after returning to Scotland.
Celtic are no strangers to Tierney’s erratic physical woes, although he remains an immensely popular figure in the green half of Glasgow.
The left-back famously had to be removed during the 2017 Scottish Cup final after losing multiple teeth. Fortunately, his dentist was in the stands at Hampden Park and performed emergency surgery on the defender at his nearby surgery while his Celtic teammates won the main game. Tierney, still bleeding from the mouth, returned in time to pick up the cup.
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