Former Celtic and Arsenal forward Charlie Nicholas is of the opinion that £20 Million is a fair price for Kieran Tierney.
The Kieran Tierney to Arsenal speculation is fast turning into a saga with the London club having made at least one bid of £15 Million and a possible second bid of £17.5 Million plus £7.5 Million in add ons turned down.
Apparently, Celtic are demanding £25 Million for the 22-year-old in one cash lump sum and are not interested in add ons, however, Nicholas reckons that a compromise can be reached with £20 Million in one payment being fair to everyone concerned.
The Sky Sports pundit even used the selling price of Virgil van Dijk as an example of what players are worth that play in Scottish football.
“I’ve read so many different stories the last few days about how they’ve put a value on him, but the fact is that Kieran Tierney plays in Scotland and that’s where the value of the market is” Nicholas said on the Sky Sports Transfer Podcast
“I mean, they sold Van Dijk for £12m. So is he a better defender than Van Dijk? No. Is £15m reasonable? I would say that Celtic in the current market could probably get £20m.
“So my pitch would be £20m is a cracking deal for Celtic and it’s also a very good deal for Arsenal. That’s where I see the value.
“People can look and judge in different positions and requirements, and of course I’ve been probably more vocal than anybody else about the need for a whole new back four for Arsenal, but in value terms I find it difficult to break down.
“The reason is; he plays in Scotland, he gets 85 per cent possession at his football club in Glasgow Celtic, but when they go to Europe the team gets found wanting a little bit.
“Kieran Tierney is a fabulous footballer, but he’s got a lot to learn defensively. That’s the issue in value.
“So I think if Celtic get £20m they’ll take it, and I think Arsenal will be relatively pleased with that.”
Nicholas further went on and claimed that Tierney may well be keen on moving to a bigger league even though the former Hoops legend thought the young left-back would want to remain at Parkhead and create history.
“I thought Kieran Tierney would want to stay at Celtic. He’s a die-hard Celtic fan, they’ve got eight in a row wrapped up, they want to go and do nine, and I thought if Kieran really wanted it, if he does nine then he’ll want to do 10 and get in the history books” Nicholas added
“But the stories I’m hearing here in Glasgow is that he might be keen to move on to the bigger league. That’s really what it’s about, a bigger league.
“Will it make him a better player? Probably.
“There is a question mark about his defensive frailties. But then again, he would be an improvement for Arsenal – there’s no doubt in my mind about that.
“He’s power. He’s got a lot of power. The greatest Celtic full-back I ever came across was Danny McGrain and he’s the closest we’ve ever had to him. Danny could play right-back and left-back, but Kieran is just is just one-footed, his left foot. He’s got real power, real pace going forward.
“And of course in Glasgow, in Scotland, in the SPFL, that’s domination. His final ball could be a bit better, but I think it has improved.”
Some strong opinion there from Nicholas but it is hard to see the Celtic faithful agreeing with him, in fact, former players and pundits are already in disagreement over Tierney’s value.
BT Sport pundit and former Celtic forward Chris Sutton reckons that Tierney is worth £50 Million
Not so long ago John Stones went for £50 million and Celtic sold Virgil Van Dijk for £13 million... Wan Bissaka £50 million to United...Let’s hope if Celtic do sell Kieran Tierney they get a similar fee as he is every bit as good..
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) June 26, 2019
As stated above this is now becoming a saga with split opinions on what Tierney is worth but the truth is fairly simple, he is worth what Celtic believe he is worth and it is up to Arsenal whether they pay the amount demanded.
It really is not rocket science.