Celtic's summer transfer window was one to forget to say the very least. A number of signings that they made already seem to be out of Brendan Rodgers' plans. Hayato Inamura was always viewed as someone who would go out on loan but then did not. And the situation surrounding Jahmai Simpson-Pusey has left the supporters confused.
Then there are those additions that should have worked, but currently, things are not going as smoothly as hoped. The move for Kieran Tierney has to fall under that category.
When Celtic managed to agree a deal to bring back Tierney, most had thought that he would cruise the Scottish Premiership. He had pretty much done that after coming through the club's youth ranks and since then, he should have only gotten better, having spent six years at Arsenal.
Yes, he had had injury problems. But if those could be managed, there was no doubt that Tierney is a phenomenal player. Yet, just a few months on and there are question marks about whether he has even been an upgrade on Greg Taylor or not, after the Scot left on a free transfer this summer.
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Sutton does not seem to believe so but expects Tierney to come good. He wrote in his column in the Daily Record:
"There’s still a lot I don’t understand around the Tierney situation and I get why people are wondering what’s going on around not managing to play 90 minutes yet.
You’ve got to say he’s not yet an upgrade on Greg Taylor but I still think he’ll come good and become an excellent signing."
The idea that Tierney would struggle to replace Taylor is one that most fans would have laughed at even a few months back. But as we stand here today, that is a very viable thought.
Taylor was a perfect fit for the role that he was playing and had perfected it over time. Tierney might need to be given that in order to make the adjustment. Also, one cannot overlook all the injuries that he has had to deal with over the years. Perhaps they have taken a lot out of his game that can never be replaced.