Kieran Tierney has spoken about a return to Celtic as Arsenal consider selling the Scotland Internationalist. Reports from London suggested the Gunners would take £10m for the left back.
Speaking to The Athletic, Tierney admitted that he would only return to his boyhood club if he felt he could contribute as he did before.
“I don’t regret it. I still miss it but I knew life would never be the same. I was living my dream. Being a footballer is the dream but playing for Celtic was the ultimate.
“I left that to go and challenge myself in the Premier League and come up against the best to see how I’d cope. If I go back, I want to be feeling how I did there before.
“I’ll be a different player to what I was, as I’ve been away for years, but I wouldn’t want to go back if I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent in my body. I know the intensity and the demand to win so, if I go back, it will be when I’m still feeling good.”
Tierney left for London in the summer of 2019 after Neil Lennon took over from Brendan Rodgers on a permanent basis. The Irishman had helped Celtic to a Treble Treble but Tierney missed the game through injury.
A move back to Celtic would be a fairytale for Tierney, who proved himself to be an excellent player in the Premier League but struggled to maintain fitness due to injuries. Arsenal are clearly ready to move the player on and a move to a Champions League club would likely be in Tierney’s thinking. Brendan’s hand is strong but the player’s agent and other influences may look to take him to Serie A or back to La Liga.
Tierney is currently with Scotland in Germany as he and his teammates look to bounce back from Friday evening’s defeat to Germany in Munich.
