Arsenal’s Tierney bombshell could be good news for Celtic

Celtic could be set to receive some good news very soon as Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had an hopeful update regarding Kieran Tierney.

This international break has been a disaster for a number of teams around Europe. Celtic obviously have had it worse than most. Odsonne Edouard, Nir Bitton and Hatem Abd Elhamed all tested positive over the past week while on national duty and are all set to miss the Glasgow Derby. One more man set to miss the big game is Ryan Christie, although he himself has not tested positive.

In fact, it was Stuart Armstrong. But it was adjudged that Ryan Christie and Kieran Tierney were in close contact with him and as a result were ordered to spend 14 days in isolation.

Of course, that means that both players will miss important games for their respective teams. In case of Christie, it is the upcoming Glasgow Derby on Saturday. Tierney, who has become an important part of the Arsenal team since joining them last summer, is set to be out for their match against Manchester City on the same day.

As expected, both clubs were in discussion with authorities to find a way to get them on the pitch. But news had died down since then as it looked like the Scottish government officials had refused their requests. As a result, any chance of either of them playing on Saturday looked dead in the water.

Their could be another twist in the tale though as Mikel Arteta has revealed that he is still hoping that Tierney can end isolation early and is available for their game against Manchester City as talks are still going on.

As reported by The Guardian, he said:

"“I hope so.“This is getting very complicated when we are sending players abroad and obviously you lose control. Some authorities have different regulations to the ones in the Premier League. We are still having some discussions with the authorities and hopefully we will know more this afternoon.”"

More from Celtic FC News

• Celtic handed fresh injury doubt before Feyenoord game
• Celtic’s £40.7 million announcement should scare Rangers
• Brendan Rodgers makes superb claim about returning Celtic player
• BBC pundit makes sensational claim about Celtic hero Kyogo
• Kyogo Furuhashi sends clear message to Celtic doubters

While this is still no guarantee that Tierney will be available, there appears to be still hope. That is more than what most Celtic fans had thought as we had accepted the fact that there was no way that Christie could turn up on Saturday. But if things fall into place, there is still a possibility that that could happen.

Let’s not too excited already though. At this point of time, we should consider that Christie is out instead of the other way round and if he is somehow cleared, then that is a bonus.

One can only hope that Celtic have also continued talks with the Scottish authorities instead of just giving up. Because it would be a huge blow Tierney is somehow cleared to play and Christie is not.