Kieran Tierney is in talks with Celtic over a summer transfer, but the defender could still leave Arsenal in the January window.
James McNicholas reports for The Athletic that whilst Kieran Tierney is in talks with Celtic for a pre-contract agreement to return in the summer as a free agent, the Scottish club could yet attempt to bring that deal forward to January.
For the time being, the focus is on reaching an agreement between player and club, but once that agreement is reached, McNicholas suggests Celtic might try and broker a deal with Arsenal for a winter transfer.
Such a deal may end up proving in the best interests of all parties, with Tierney getting to play regular football in the second half of the season, Celtic benefitting from his return, and Arsenal saving money on wages and potentially bringing in a transfer fee.
The Athletic previously reported that Arsenal hadn’t been approached by anyone looking to sign Tierney this month, but perhaps that could still change in the final fortnight of the window.
Speaking about Tierney’s situation in a press conference in early January, Mikel Arteta said: “There is absolutely no news, Kieran is our player.”
Tierney recently made his return to the Arsenal starting lineup after injury, playing 69 minutes of the team’s 3-2 League Cup quarter-final win over Crystal Palace.
The defender also came on in the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United, though he’s made the squad on nine further occasions without getting any minutes on the pitch.
With the emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly and the injury returns of Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko, there haven’t been many minutes on offer.
Arsenal did have an option to extend Tierney’s contract to 2026, but the deadline to activate that option has passed. He appears set to leave, whether that’s now or in the summer.