Celtic FC left-back Keiran Tierney is a reported transfer target for Arsenal (and Liverpool) so we take a look at what could he bring to the squad.
Tierney was one of the best performers in the Celtic squad that remained unbeaten in the Scottish Premiership and the youngster has attracted a lot of interest from Premier League teams, especially Arsenal.
The 20-year-old, a life-long Celtic supporter, rose through the Celtic youth ranks and has become an invaluable part of the first team since he was promoted to the senior squad in December 2015.
He made a total of 40 appearances for Celtic across all competitions last season and managed to score two goals and make 12 assists.
Style and strengths
Unlike plenty of full-backs who are either better at going forward or staying at the back, Tierney makes his presence felt at both ends. His work rate is admirable and the youngster is already showing that he has all that is needed for a player to become a world class full-back.
His tackling is one of the mains strengths and on one occasion Celtic’s captain Scott Brown has said that Tierney is “hard as nails” and “would tackle his granny”.
The youngster makes an average of two tackles per-game and 1.7 interceptions, and just to show how good he is at taking on opposing players, he makes just 0.7 fouls per-game and in the entire season (40 games) he got only two yellow cards.
While going forward, his greatest strength is crossing, whether it is an early cross from deep, or close to the byline. His balls often find their target and create dangerous goal-scoring opportunities.
Physical strength and great pace make him a dangerous and tough opponent as he is able to both chase opponents back and outrun them when going forward, and his commitment is never in doubt as he works up and down the line for the whole match.
Weaknesses
At 20-years-of-age, he is still somewhat inexperienced, and the Scottish league isn’t the most demanding in Europe. A move to a bigger league with tougher and more sound opponents might have a negative influence on him and his confidence, at least immediately after any move.
Tierney is a great player when going forward, but he lacks the finishing touch. He often chooses to pass the ball rather than to shoot and for a offensive full-back he doesn’t position himself so that he can have a go at goal.
Possibly his greatest weakness is his passing and although he does make plenty of assists while crossing, he maintains a very low passing success rate of just 68.6%. That’s low, even for a full back.
What if he joins Arsenal?
Tierney has great potential and it’s only a matter of time until a bigger club comes asking for his services in a way Celtic cannot ignore.
If he were to join Arsenal he would have a tough time breaking into the first team.
With the arrival of Sead Kolasinac and with Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs already at the club, the youngster would surely be sent on loan for the first season or two before a spot opens up for him to shine.
He brings pace to Celtic and offers a passing option when building up attacks, but if he doesn’t work on his passing and keeping possession, he wouldn’t stand a chance at Arsenal. In a team with so much focus on possession, a passing rate of under 70% cannot be tolerated.
Arsenal have already made an attempt to sign the player, but a £10m bid in May 2015 was rejected and the player decided to stay another season at Celtic.
This summer, a significantly larger bid would be required, and Arsenal do seem to hold enough interest to try and bring the youngster to the Emirates.
Goals, skills & assists
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeJzUOamuE4