Kieran Tierney’s injury record is only cause for concern

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The Celtic Star

·12 juin 2025

Kieran Tierney’s injury record is only cause for concern

Kieran Tierney’s return to Celtic after six years with Arsenal has been hugely celebrated by the Celtic support…

Kieran Tierney after the Scottish Cup Final win over Aberdeen at Hampden in May 2017. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

After all, when Tierney left for North London for £25m it was assumed any chance of a return one day may have been thwarted by the wages on offer elsewhere, be that at Arsenal or another club from the big five leagues.

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If Celtic was likely to be a future destination for Tierney, it was understandable to assume the return journey would likely be completed after the left-back had moved around Spain, Italy or France, hit his thirties and moved home in the twilight of his career.

Instead, Celtic and Tierney are reunited when KT has just turned 28 years old and Celtic will now arguably get the player at his peak, rather than one stop short of retiring.

Kieran Tierney, Photo Celtic FC

Now of course there is the elephant in the room surrounding this deal. Tierney and an injury record.

Arsenal signed Tierney in 2019, he was already carrying an injury at that juncture, and he didn’t debut until September. By December he was having surgery, this time on his shoulder after dislocating it three times in one game. That meant Tierney didn’t play again until June ‘21.

Between 2021 and 2025, Tierney, excluding illness, was missing with injuries on nine occasions, once with a groin injury, three times with knee injuries, three times with hamstring injuries, once with an ankle injury and once with an abductor injury. His last big injury occurred just last summer when with Scotland at the Euros in Germany.

That injury record has seen some within the support question if this transfer won’t mean a similar story back at Celtic, after all even in his loan move to Real Sociedad, Tierney’s time in La Liga was also interrupted by injury.

Yet if you dig into the time spent out of action, Tierney’s injury record hasn’t been too impactful.

Of the nine injuries picked up post 2021, only three of those injuries led to any longer than a month on the sidelines, the hamstring injury last summer was 156 days, another hamstring injury in October 2023, which kept him out for 55 days, and knee surgery in March 2022 which kept him out for 99 days.

I’m certain Kieran Tierney would have been frustrated by the stop start nature of some of the injuries he has suffered, but I’m sure he’d also argue that most of those haven’t resulted in extensive time spent unavailable for selection.

Indeed, although his appearances last season at Arsenal were mostly as a substitute, he had been available for selection most of last season but was only seen as a squad player by Mikel Arteta.

Celtic will perhaps have to be more mindful as to the amount of football Kieran Tierney plays for Celtic this time around, as it’s fair to say as a club we could have managed his game-time a little better first time around, but I don’t think there is a great deal to worry about this time if we can find a good, young back up option to allow Tierney to step out of the firing line on occasion and we properly utilise him.

Kieran Tierney, Photo Celtic FC

Spoiler alert! Chances are Kieran Tierney will spend some time on the injury list at Celtic, but for such a combative player that has to be accepted. After all, if a player is injured due to a lack of professionalism, a questionable lifestyle or making daft decisions, it is understandable that fans may show their frustration.

This is not the case with Kieran Tierney, instead back luck has played a part but so too has his style of play. Tierney is a winner, in every game and in every challenge and that sometimes comes with consequences, but it should also come with an element of understanding.

When Tierney was announced this week, he said all the right things about what he would bring to Celtic and his ambitions for the club.

“My ambition is just for Celtic to be as successful as possible, retain our place at the top and continue to win trophies and do well for Celtic. I’ll try and work my hardest, I’ll do my best for the club, and that’s all I can do.”

I think it is also worth bearing in mind about what we as a support can do for Kieran Tierney.

There is little doubt Celtic’s number 63 will be acutely aware of how his injury record has been viewed. He will no doubt be frustrated at how stop, start his career has been until the last 12 months and he will be hoping Celtic will be the happy place he remembered when he left first time around. Tierney will be looking to return to that place, back home and amongst his own.

Kieran Tierney is injured during the Scottish Cup Final win over Aberdeen at Hampden in May 2017. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

When injuries do occur, and when Tierney is not available for selection, or when he is taken out the team and rotated, the Celtic support can ensure we support one of our own.

Because with that kind of backing Tierney’s confidence in his body will come with performances and the narrative around that injury record can be altered.

Celtic have signed a top talent in Kieran Tierney and although there will be reservations in the minds of some, Tierney is here to bookend his footballing career with Celtic. If he feels the love from our support, any emotional baggage he carries now can quickly evaporate and a Celtic return can be a wonderful redemption story.

Niall J

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