Arsenal backed to sign Kieran Tierney as ex-Celtic boss makes Liverpool comparison

Arsenal boss Unai Emery has made signing the left-back one of his main priorities this summer.

The Spaniard has so far been unsuccessful in his pursuit of the Scotland international, having two offers for the Hoops stalwart knocked back.

The most recent bid Emery had rejected for Tierney was in the region of £25million, an offer Celtic deem to be nowhere near their valuation of the 22-year-old.

Tierney has been one of Celtic’s star performers for the last two seasons, turning in a series of displays similar to that of a player well beyond his years.

Delia gave Tierney his Celtic debut in 2015 and reckons the defender has more potential than this former team-mate Van Dijk, who joined Liverpool from Southampton in January 2018 for a world-record fee of £75million.

“Kieran would be really, really good at Arsenal — I know it,” Delia told The Scottish Sun.

“He needs to improve a little bit technically, still. But at the same time he has everything else already and will learn the rest.

“I think Kieran has an even better mentality than Virgil. That’s what I saw at that time.

“Virgil, of course, has gone on to a different level since leaving Celtic, but at the time I worked with them both Kieran was even better.

“They both had the physical attributes to play at the highest level.

“Virgil had everything. But Tierney has the same.”

Celtic are willing to part company with Tierney this summer, but only if their asking price is met.

Hoops boss Neil Lennon believes Tierney is worth far more than Arsenal’s offer, citing the £50million Manchester United paid Crystal Palace for Aaron Wan-Bissaka as a reason why the Gunners should fork out more cash for the youngster.

“£50m for Wan-Bissaka is a lot of money and we feel that Kieran is a far more experienced and rounded full-back at this juncture in his career,” he said.

“He’s an asset for us and we do have a value for the player and we rate the player very highly.

“So disrespectful is the wrong word but we’re certainly not going to be pushed over in any negotiations and we’re in a very strong position with regard to a number of our assets in the team.”

source: express.co.uk