Celtic have opened negotiations with Kieran Tierney for a summer transfer, but they haven’t held any talks with Arsenal over a move this month.
James McNicholas reports for The Athletic that Celtic have begun talks with Kieran Tierney over a free transfer in the summer. With Tierney’s Arsenal contract set to expire in June, he’s free to talk to clubs outside England about a pre-contract agreement.
As for a possible January departure, McNicholas adds that Arsenal haven’t been approached by anyone looking to sign the left-back this month.
Speaking about Tierney’s situation in his press conference this week, Mikel Arteta said: “There is absolutely no news, Kieran is our player.”
Tierney recently made his return to the Arsenal starting lineup, playing 69 minutes of the team’s 3-2 League Cup quarter-final win over Crystal Palace.
But with the emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly and the injury returns of Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko, there haven’t been any minutes on offer to the Scottish international since then.
Despite Arsenal having a relatively thin squad at the moment, Tierney is a rare player that is probably surplus to requirements if a good offer comes in. Unfortunately, Celtic only appear to be interested in a free transfer.
Arsenal did have an option to extend Tierney’s contract to 2026, but the deadline to activate that option has passed. Arteta said in December that the player hadn’t asked to leave, but perhaps that’s simply because he doesn’t feel he needs to.
In a matter of months, the 27-year-old’s contract will end and he’ll be free to return to Scotland – if that’s what he wants to do.