Owen Hargreaves has told Kieran Tierney not to leave Celtic in a hurry.
There are no signs of the defender angling for a move but there is no shortage of English based pundits telling him to test himself in the ‘best league in the world’.
Hargreaves came to prominence with Bayern Munich and is able to see a bigger picture as Tierney develops into one of the top talents in the UK.
Working with the best manager in the UK and playing in the Champions League provides the 20-year-old with the best platform possible to develop his game.
“Tierney will play somewhere big but I’m not sure leaving Celtic just to go to a big club is the answer for him,” the former England internationalist told The Sun. “It’s maybe not the right way to go about it.
“You look at Patrick Roberts leaving Manchester City to sign for Celtic. He’s a City player and on paper that’s great, but he hasn’t played for them. He’s had to go to Celtic to get games.
“As young and as good as these guys are, it’s all about getting an opportunity to play. Tierney might be better looking at Everton or somewhere like that.
“Finding the right club is important. Look at Luke Shaw, everyone said he was nailed on for Manchester United and suited for the club, but he hasn’t really played.”
Robben factor
Tierney will be on show in front of a massive audience against Bayern Munich tonight.
As well as 70,000 fans in the Allianz Arena there will be a global audience of millions watching to see how Bayern respond to the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti.
Tierney will go head-to-head against Arjen Robben with the former Chelsea and Real Madrid man one of the best wide men to have played in the Champions League/
Hargreaves explained: “These are the games that will take your reputation to a higher level on the European stage.
“You grow up watching these guys on TV and then suddenly you are out on the pitch playing against them.
“When I look back to when I played against Luis Figo for the first time, he was the most expensive player in the world and I remember thinking ‘Oh, I could be in trouble here’ but the game started and I nicked the ball off Figo and ran past Roberto Carlos.
“At that point I had an awakening on the pitch, thinking ‘These guys have two legs, just like me. Now I need to find a way to impose myself on them’.
“For Tierney, rather than be daunted by the prospect of facing Arjen Robben, he has to be excited and see it as a challenge.
“Robben should be the one coming off the pitch saying ‘Who the hell was that guy?’.
“Robben gives everyone the runaround, but Tierney should be looking to impose himself and take away what he does best.”