Kieran Tierney has signed a pre-contract agreement with Celtic and will return to the Scottish club once his contract with Arsenal expires.
The Gunners had made it clear that the versatile defender, who was brought back when Unai Emery was in charge, would not be offered a new contract. Tierney has been allowed to talk to clubs about a move as a free agent for next season and has opted to turn down moves abroad or the Premier League so he could secure a return to Parkhead, the Telegraph reports.
Either way, striking a deal with the Scottish champions could complicate his situation in the short term. There was talk of Tierney making a move in January, but he may now have to wait several months before heading to the Hoops.
It remains to be seen how Arsenal plan to use Tierney for the remainder of the season. He made three appearances in January as the team's injury problems mounted, but there is plenty of competition at left-back, with Myles Lewis-Skelly, Jakub Kiwior, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko all pushing for minutes.
Last season, Tierney was loaned out when it became clear his opportunities would be limited. He left for Real Sociedad, where he was a regular, and is now back in North London.
Tierney is a Celtic academy graduate who broke into the first team in 2015. He won four titles and two Scottish Cups during Brendan Rodgers' dominant first spell in charge. He is back at the helm and has discussed his plans for January but remained tight-lipped about Tierney's return.
“Kieran was instrumental in a really very successful period when I was here,” Rodgers said. “His talents then took him to another challenge but we will be linked with many names and of course Kieran because of his situation. But we don't talk about a player until he's signed.”
Celtic made £25million when they sold Tierney in 2019 and will now bring him back for nothing. Arsenal have yet to complete any deals in January, although it is reported that they have completed a deal to sign Spanish midfielder Martin Zubimendi next summer.
Arteta is facing calls to sign a striker – an area in which the team is light. Kai Havertz has continued to operate centrally, but the lack of a productive frontman in the team has already proven costly this season.
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