Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney is expected to agree a pre-contract deal that will see him return to Celtic on a free transfer transfer this summer, according to a report.
The Scotland international joined Arsenal in 2019, leaving his boyhood club for a transfer fee of around £25 million. Tierney spent last season on loan in La Liga with Real Sociedad, but his success in the Basque Country was marred by injury – a cruel fate that shaped his entire career with the Gunners.
Tierney has missed at least 10 games due to fitness issues in all but one of his five full seasons in the English capital. Mikel Arteta has rarely resorted to the buccaneering full-back in recent years, instead deploying players who are more comfortable in midfield.
Arsenal have decided against a one-year extension to Tierney’s existing contract, which expires in June. Celtic have been heavily linked with a move for their academy graduate and now The Telegraph claim the left-back is ‘close to’ agreeing a return to Glasgow.
With his Arsenal contract already in its final six months, Tierney is free to sign a pre-contract with any club outside England before joining his future employers in the summer. Midfield colleagues Thomas Partey and Jorginho are both in the same situation as their Scotland team-mate, although he is considering leaving this month.
Bayer Leverkusen, Sevilla and Juventus reportedly showed interest in Tierney before he decided to return to Scotland.
Celtic are no strangers to Tierney’s fickle fitness misfortunes, although he remains a hugely popular figure in the green half of Glasgow.
The left-back famously had to be substituted in the 2017 Scottish Cup final after losing several teeth. Luckily, his dentist was in the stands at Hampden Park, carrying out emergency surgery on the defender at his nearby surgery while his Celtic team-mates were winning the top-flight game. Tierney, still with blood around his mouth, returned just in time to pick up the cup.