Today, there were reports in the press about Mikel Arteta’s plans for Kieran Tierney, about how he wants to keep him around because he rates him as a player and is keen to maintain the core of his squad. As everyone in the Celtic support will be well aware by now—especially those who keep a close watch on how Kieran is getting on down there—this is simply not true.
Arteta is not some Tierney superfan.
He’s kept him around, sure, but I get the impression there’s a bit of pique involved in that, a bit of spite, and I don’t know what the reason for it is. But it’s perfectly obvious that he’s not doing it in the best interests of the player—or of our club.
Now, I understand that the Arsenal manager isn’t obliged to do anything in Celtic’s best interests. But he should drop all the talk about respecting a player he’s treated abysmally over the last couple of years. This is a player he has already said is not in his plans for next season. A player he was virtually escorting off the premises—who now he embraces like a long-lost son.
I don’t think anybody is really buying any of it. I don’t think Tierney is buying it for a start. He knows he isn’t rated by Arteta. He knows he’s not valued as a member of the first-team squad. He’s been ostracised, abandoned, sent out on loan, and everything else over the past couple of years and his contract won’t be renewed.
So, this sudden affection for him is about as fake as a piece of plastic fruit.
And I’ll tell you what else—I strongly suspect that if Tierney’s destination at the end of his contract was anywhere but Celtic, he’d already be at that club.
Arteta would have been happy to do some kind of deal, happy to move him on. Is it because it’s Celtic? Is it because Arteta played at Ibrox? I didn’t think he was that petty. I didn’t think he was one of those ex-players who bathed in the dank waters of all that paranoia and craziness over there.
But it’s a feeling that’s awfully hard to shake when you watch the way Tierney has been treated. The other night against Newcastle, he was one of three left-backs in the squad. They started their young left-back and left Tierney and the other on the bench. Tierney is third choice at that club—if he’s lucky.
He’ll see game time once in a blue moon. They could easily have let him go. A deal could have been done. Something could have been worked out. But Arteta wants to mess with him one last time, and it doesn’t seem like there’s any football philosophy behind it—it just seems vindictive.
Tierney will be here in the summer.
There’s nothing Arteta can do about that. There’s nothing anyone at Arsenal can do about that. But I get the impression they’d rather he was going somewhere else. And in this case, I am convinced that Celtic did go to bat for him, that we put forth maximum effort to try to get a deal done. Nothing would have appeased the fans more in their frustration over not signing a striker than bringing back a club favourite. I am sure that no stone was left unturned in trying to make it happen.
And that makes it all the harder to understand why a deal was impossible to do. We all know that Tierney is not going to be a first-team regular there. We all know that, barring injuries or a scenario where there’s no other choice, Arteta will not play him regularly—if he plays him at all. And some minutes off the bench in the dying stages of meaningless games aren’t going to matter a damn.
Kieran Tierney wanted nothing more than to come home and play regular football again. That is now clearly his overriding ambition.
And as I said to Joe on one of the podcasts recently, when we were discussing the return of him and Jota—these guys had other options. They could have gone elsewhere for more money and all the rest of it. But they wanted to come back to Celtic. And I just think it’s shocking that Tierney remains at a club that does not want him, under a manager who has no intention of playing him.
As I said a moment ago, I do not blame Celtic for this at all because I know for an absolute fact that we wouldn’t have left anything on the table in trying to sign him. We did everything we could. And I wouldn’t be talking like this if I thought for a second that Arteta had actual plans for Tierney beyond leaving him to rot on the bench. But I know better than that. And, worse still, so does Tierney.
Arsenal are still in a very tight title race, and on their day, they are capable of playing some of the best football you can watch south of the border. I think it would be one of God’s little jokes if Tierney got into the team due to injuries and suspensions and proved himself so invaluable that they had to keep playing him for the rest of the season—and that he was instrumental in them winning the title.
And knowing that he had needed Tierney to do that? I wonder how Mikel Arteta would ever sleep at night.
Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
You just need to listen to his interviews or watch the way he conducts himself on the sideline to see he is a fanny. Sorry for the bluntness but he is lol. Plus he was an EBT recipient so no adverse to behaving in an underhand manner. Hopefully they miss out again and his board runs out of patience with him.
Oh he’d sleep all right at night for sure James – He’s been at Liebrox a bastion of hatred where old habits die hard and very hard indeed both at The Deceased ‘Rangers’ and it continues as Sevco unabated as well…
It does smack of trying to curry favour with The Sevco Hun Hoards and not sully his ‘reputation’ with them…
Never mind Mikeal – They still sang about you being a fenian bastard and will until your dying day…
How they have such a petulant and hateful hold over any player unfortunate enough to pass through their door is beyond me and every other non Sevco supporting person alive !
If Tierney was to get back into the Arsenal team as a result of injuries, it would look as though Arteta was right to have kept him until the end of his contract. Holding players, even those desperate to leave, has been considered justified in other situations.
Much has been written about Celtic’s slow movement in replacing Kyogo, yet according to an article on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain’s blog, Celtic offered 10.5m Euros for Kvistgaarden + 15% of any sell-on profit before Kyogo had left. His club wanted, at that stage 15M and 33% of the total price received in any sell-on. That appears to have been a starting position and it would appear that negotiations may only have led to higher demands.
The attempt to sign Iheanacho on loan was effectively gazumped by Middlesborough, who were prepared to pay all of his £115K per week wages.
While there is no mention of the Strelic bid in this article, it has been reported that Celtic were prepared to offer £8m for a player who cost 700,000 euros 6 months earlier. His club wanted £9.5m.
Whether we think Celtic should have met these prices (if true) is a matter of opinion, but it does show that these are not easy options. Celtic has obtained great value for money with the likes of O’Riley, Hatate, Kuhn and Maeda in recent years, and while we can also shop in a higher priced market, this can also bring higher wage demands. It seems sensible to make the best of both worlds within our transfer system.
That’s a very good post JT and these figures that you quote just shows where the hell we are in the footy food chain when it comes to mental money and crazy cash !
I was glad Newcastle beat them in the semi-final last night. Arteta will win fk all this season while KT will be joining a Treble winning side very soon.
Hopefully Johnny that Kieran will think the way James does in the article and really use it as a vehicle to drive him onwards and therefore by dint Celtic to another treble next season !
Has there been an official announcement from Celtic that KT has signed a precontract agreement?
Arteta, once an odious decrepit hun always an odious decrepit hun.
Of course he kept teirney because he was coming to us .
When he played for the huns, a hun supporter was asked if he hated him cos he was Catholic. The hun replied naw, we only hate scottish wans.
He must have the same mentality as they stinking huns
If anything it allows him rest, continued body recovery time and injury free for the CL qualies. Hopefully anyway. I would love to have seen KT back for the CL v Bayern but given Arteta’s backtale it does seem nothing short of spite for reasons known only to him and that can only be guessed at by us
We were led to believe arsenal didn’t let Tierney go because they expected a bid for Zinchenko, now Tierney is 4th choice behind Lewis-Skelly, Calafiori and Zinchenko. He won’t play again for them. Arteta is a tit.
I was also thinking that there is no ‘cover needed’ reason to keep KT at Arsenal, unless Zinchenko was sold. It doesn’t make sense, except…..well to look at it positively, Schlupp seems highly thought of and vastly experienced, I actually forgot he was at Leicester with Schmiechal. As for KT, extra rest and gym work then a summer of pre season training with us will hopefully have a readymade replacement for GT.
As for Arsenal, I went off them the minute Arteta suddenly froze KT out the team, which at that stage wasn’t playing worse when he was in the team. They’ll lose the league though.
With the double header against Bayern, the silver lining might be experience. We know how fast Dortmund came out the blocks. We have a chance to show that we can match that pace for the first half at least and empty the tank second half. As much as I would want us to win all league games, I’d happily take a couple of draws if it meant a close contest with Bayern. It’ll be tough at the Allianz too but our players, this is the reason some of the overseas lads signed up, to be at the top table, not drossing it out mid table in the Championship etc. Time to start getting excited/nervous for the midweek game!
I’ve never really been a fan of Arteta, and his treatment of Tierney, has never really made sense. Especially when so many Arsenal fans have such a high opinion of KT.
None of us will ever fully know if he’s a vindictive wee sh*te, but I suppose it’s easy for us Celtic fans to use his Ibrokes links, as a stick to beat him with.
For me, he’s always whingeing or moaning about something and I was pleased to see Newcastle beat them the other night . They must have some team to continually overlook Tierney, and thankfully he’ll with us in the summer, and away from the ungrateful Spaniard.
With regards to Phil’s article, which I’ve still to read, I’ve no doubt that our club did submit various bids.
However, for me, the fundamental issue is, that when you realise you are losing your best players, in any position, you have a prepared list of replacements and you get to work on that list, asap.
At the end of the day, the selling club should always hold all the aces, and if they want to raise the transfer fee, then so be it.
Our club has plenty of previous for dragging their heels and being so tardy, that they run out of viable options.
Of course, no club should be held to ransom, including our own, but it happens too regularly during transfer windows, for it to be considered coincidental, or Celtic being continually priced out of deals.
We move on with what we have and await the next transfer sagas in the summer window !
I won’t be holding my breath that we will spend much in the summer, without firstly losing 1-2 key players, to provide the transfer budget !
That’s how we normally do it, isn’t it ?
Anyway Arteta’s loss ( in the summer) is Celtic’s gain, and shame on him that KT’s not here now ! HH
I’m surprised you state that “Celtic did everything they could” you knowing Celtics / Lawwells / Nicolsons record in these situations. Celtic would have KTs signature on a Pre Contract. Celtic would have made Arsenal an offer that would have reduced Arsenals cost over the next 5 months. That offer would have been paltry and would have been based on saving a percentage of KTs salary ( it would certainly not have been 100% of his salary, wouldn’t have been 50%, probably about 20% maximum given Celtics rightful reputation in these situations and negotiations.
Arsenal most probably thought it wasn’t worth it and why bother when costs and amortisation has already taken care of their outlay.