Kieran Tierney completed his move to La Liga side Real Sociedad on Sunday night, ending all hopes of a sentimental return to Celtic.
The Scotland international joined the Basque club on a loan deal from Arsenal until the end of the 2023/24 season.
It is fair to say the 26-year-old fell out of favour in North London over the past few months. Takehiro Tomiyasu, who is predominantly and naturally a right-back, was playing ahead of him at left-back. Tierney wasn’t even training with the Gunners’ first team recently, either.
Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph did say Celtic were ‘keeping an eye on the situation’, but nothing seemed to materialise. Returning to Glasgow this summer for the treble-treble-winning defender was always going to be tough, which has certainly proved to be the case.
In Sociedad, Tierney will play in a top-five European league against some of the best players. As well as this, his club are also in the Champions League. The last time the defender turned out in Europe’s premier club competition was with Celtic, so he will undoubtedly be excited by that prospect.
On the whole, the move is vastly positive for the ex-Celt. He will get game time in a quality division and has a season to buckle down and gain consistency; if Tierney impresses in 2023/24 for Sociedad, who knows what doors could open for him.
