Celtic tease with Kieran Tierney pictures

The Celtic Foundation weren’t shy over the fact that Kieran Tierney attended a fund raising event in London last night.

Chris Sutton, Martin O’Neill and Rod Stewart were included in the pictures released on Twitter last night but it was the appearance of the Arsenal defender, apparently deep in conversation with Brendan Rodgers that attracted most attention.

In February 2019 Rodgers left Celtic for Leicester, a few months later Tierney joined Arsenal but rumours of a return to Celtic have never been far away with only the timing to be arranged.

Tierney is under contract with Arsenal until May 2026 but is well out of the picture under Mikel Arteta, spending last season on loan at Real Sociedad where he played in 20 La Liga matches and twice in the Champions League.

Injuries is the biggest issue for Tierney, his Arsenal debut in 2019 was delayed as he underwent rehab on a pelvic condition while his involvement at the European Championships came to a sudden halt with a serious hamstring issue as Scotland drew with Switzerland in their second match.

Arsenal are committed to two more seasons of EPL wages, with another contract highly unlikely next summer will be decision time over whether they sell or release the defender or keep him onboard as cover.

Adding to the intrigue is the left-back position at Celtic where Greg Taylor is out of contract next May with the loan deal for Alex Valle running out at the same time.

It would be very simplistic to put two and two together into Tierney joining Celtic next summer but there are a number of hurdles to overcome before the defender attends club functions as an employee again.