Arsenal have reportedly submitted an improved bid for Kieran Tierney, with the Gunners lodging a £20 million plus bid for the Celtic superstar.
The Sun have credited The Sunday Post with the news that Arsenal are closing in on Kieran Tierney. The Gunners have submitted a £20 million bid that could rise to beyond £25 million depending on bonuses. Unai Emery is determined to get Tierney to join up with the rest of the squad for the pre-season tour.
The report further adds that the bonuses or add-on clauses are realistic and are reliant on Tierney reaching a set number of appearances for Arsenal or the club qualifying for the Champions League, which could see Celtic consider accepting the offer. Emery is also willing to let Carl Jenkinson join Celtic in order to convince them to accept the offer for Tierney.
Kieran Tierney’s deal has stretched on for a fair number of days, with Arsenal and Celtic somewhat far apart in their valuation of the Scottish international. The Gunners have had two bids rejected by the Bhoys. But, the current bid is in the same ballpark as the Scottish champions’ valuation and could see the deal go through.
Arsenal need a well-rounded left-back to replace Nacho Monreal, whose contract was up for expiry on June 30. The Spaniard is also likely to be an option for central defence, even if he ends up prolonging his stay at Emirates. Sead Kolasinac, on the other hand, is more suited for the wing-back role and is not as defensively efficient as Emery would like his left-sided defender to be.
Tierney, despite being 22, has five seasons of senior football under his belt and has tasted continuous success at Celtic. To add to it, Tierney is also a regular for Scotland. In essence, Tierney could prove to be fair competition to Kolasinac for the left-back slot, regardless of the formation, with the Scottish international also equally adept at playing further ahead on the left side.
If the deal does go through, it will be interesting to see how Arsenal go about their business in other deals, with the Tierney transfer likely to leave Arsenal with just £25 million to spend, not taking into account the money they can generate through player sales.