Arsenal: Mikel Arteta sends transfer message amid Kieran Tierney talks over Celtic return

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Evening Standard

·3 Januari 2025

Arsenal: Mikel Arteta sends transfer message amid Kieran Tierney talks over Celtic return

Tierney will be out of contract at the end of the season and could leave in January

Tierney will be out of contract at the end of the season after Arsenal chose not to take up the one-year extension in his current deal.

The 27-year-old defender is able to sign a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs now and Celtic are in talks with him.

It remains to be seen if the Scottish champions try to accelerate any deal and sign Tierney in January ahead of him being a free agent this summer.

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Tierney joined Arsenal from Celtic in 2019 for a deal worth in the region of £25million.

He went on to become a key player for the Gunners and was instrumental in their FA Cup win in 2020.

But the left-back has slipped down the pecking order under Mikel Arteta since then and he spent last season on loan at Real Sociedad.

Tierney would have likely left Arsenal last summer but he suffered a hamstring injury playing for Scotland at Euro 2024.

He has made just one appearance since then, starting for Arsenal in their win over Crystal Palace last month in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

Asked whether any players will be allowed to leave in January, Arteta said on Friday: “All the players that are here, they want to focus on performing and impacting the team and if something happens there then we will assess it.”