As Scotland prepares for their Euro 2024 curtain raiser against Germany on Friday night, national team left-back Kieran Tierney has been talking about his departure from Celtic back in 2019.
After swiftly rising through the youth ranks in Glasgow’s east end, Tierney became a first-team regular as a teenager.
Captaining his boyhood club at 20 before going on to win a treble treble, things couldn’t have gotten any better for the defender.
When Premier League giants Arsenal came calling, though, the now 27-year-old couldn’t resist a move to London.
Tierney joined the Gunners at the beginning of the 2019/20 campaign for a record-breaking 27m euros (Transfermarkt).
Now, he has opened up on his exit, admitting he still misses playing for the team he supported as a kid, but that he doesn’t rue leaving.
“I don’t regret it”, said Tierney (The Athletic).
“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.”
After a year loan spell in Spain with Real Sociedad, Tierney is at somewhat of a career crossroads.
It doesn’t look as though he has a long-term future at Arsenal because he is reportedly available on the transfer market for just £10m.
A return to Celtic, though, seems a tad idealistic, especially after Tierney himself admitted he would need to feel 100% in his body and fitness if he came back.
