Arsenal’s search for a left back appears to be nearing completion as reports about Kieran Tierney continue to solidify.
The press ran with stories that Celtic had rejected a £15m bid for the 22 year old, turning down the chance to take Carl Jenkinson as part of the deal, along with a loan move for one of Jordi Osei-Tutu, Emile Smith Rowe or Eddie Nketiah.
It seems as if that report was true, with the BBC’s David Ornstein confirming the amount, but also suggesting that Arsenal are optimistic they can find a compromise with the Scottish champions.
As reported elsewhere Arsenal have had an opening bid of £15m for Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney rejected – but there is optimism an agreement will be reached between the clubs, while personal terms for the 22-year-old Scotland international shouldn’t be a problem #AFC #CelticFC
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) June 22, 2019
“As reported elsewhere Arsenal have had an opening bid of £15m for Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney rejected – but there is optimism an agreement will be reached between the clubs, while personal terms for the 22-year-old Scotland international shouldn’t be a problem.”
With Nacho Monreal 33, and Sead Kolasinac not a great fit for a team which wants to play with a back four, this has been one of the key areas for the recruitment team this summer, and if all goes well the Scotland international could become our first signing of the off season.
It would also leave us with a surplus of left backs, so it will be interesting to see who might depart.
Monreal could go back to Spain for a relatively low fee, while Kolasinac would fetch a reasonable amount given the length of his contract, age and status. Whatever we brought in for him would be profit too, having signed him on a free transfer from Schalke two years ago.
I hope we get this one over the line. You can never guarantee that players will make the step up in quality but, Tierney has played a lot of games over the last few years, including in the CL and has never looked out of place. He’s got that tremendous athleticism that we’re in dire need of and is only 22 with bags of potential yet.
Spot on, he’d walk into our team and as someone with a soft spot for the Gers I hope we can get this one over the line. I’m not sure the level Tierney has already faced in his CL career is that far behind what he`ll face in the Premier League. I can only think of 1 game (Barca) where he looked totally out of his depth and lets be honest here, you could say the same thing about plenty of Arsenal players against that team as well.
One of Monreal or kola has to go, would hv said we keep Monreal, but he is not getting any younger, kola on the other hand can’t defend, good wingback, but not a good defender
It’s a really tough call. You could argue for keeping either of them. Monreal because he’s very good cover at CB and does well at left back in a back four.
Could also argue to keep kolasinac who is much younger and a perfectly serviceable backup option for weaker opposition.
Unless Nacho is really keen to return to Spain (family or whatever) then I think we should keep him, purely because he can be CB cover. OK, he’s not getting younger and his previously pretty high standards did seem to slip last year, but it’s well worth having some elder statesmen around. Especially if we’re likely to have young CBs in the team (and possibly Kos leaving). If we can get some decent cash for Kola I’d take it tbh. Unless we convert him to a full on left winger. But with our current state of affairs we should probably… Read more »
Yeah, that’s also right.
He dont possess the technical quality to be a pure winger.
He’s not a pure full back and not a pure winger, he’s somewhere in between.
If we can convert him, then the easiest would be to convert him to a real full back.
But since this havent happened already, I assume its not going to happen.
Im pretty sure we will sell Kola this summer.
Monreal because he can play in a 4 and wouldn’t need to play as many games as a back up option, plus can play in a back 3. Kolasinac is purely a wing back and not a great one. Plus, we’d get more for Kolasinac.
Oh. I didn’t think of that. Good point!
But I agree with this as well.
Personally I.d keep Nacho. He can play as CB at a push and is still a reasonably solid LB if he just stays back. I suppose it depends on what the players themselves want. But in a summer where we need cash coming in Kola would be the better sale and I think Saka could possibly understudy Tierney as a left wingback.
Havn.t seen much of Tierney but the reports are positive so hopefully this will happen – cue Liverpool signing him to replace Moreno
Ah yeah, but that’s true as well. Golly what a conundrum!
Yeah. That’s true.
I think it would be wise to sell them both. Kolasinac will demand quite a high fee, and we could use that to buy another younger player to fight for the position with Tierney. I think this need for an older player to guide the younger ones is overstated. Serious competition is far more important. If we require experience, add to the coaching staff. Keeping players who don’t perform because of their experience is nonsensical, especially if it means they will run down their contact or retire at a loss to us. Love Monreal, great player and a joy to… Read more »
What do you think, Helder Hughes?
This is like a cup of cold water to a weary traveller in the wilderness.
More of the same please.
Or even, dare I say, a solid signing to uplift a weary fanbase. ?
Definitely like the look of this if it happens; young, on the rise, and I’d like to say cheap given the conditions of the market today.
On that same note, Ismail Bennacer is doing really well at Empoli. Any truth to us being able to recall him? Looks like he definitely could improve our midfield, without having to spend bucketloads.
Who would be the back up?
The other one
Some actual news for a change instead of the usual tabloid bullshit
I think Monreal should go especially if we can bring in another central defender. We can make a little money from his sale. Moreover, his going could pave way for the likes of Chambers and Bielik to show what they can offer.
I’d keep Nacho over Kolasinac, we’d get more money selling him, Nacho is a dependable backup for at least two roles and a leader in the side.
The ornacle has spoken!
Unless Arsenal are prepared to offer £25m + add ons (not loans) this is a non-starter.
£15m was an insulting offer and quite disrespectful, even if it is the SPFL.
I think the phrase is reaping what you sow, money talks in the Premier League…So let’s be seeing the true colour of Arsenal’s!
We’re skint
I agree. Starting out with an insulting bid is not a good start to negotiations, skint or not. It’s like that one asshole on Craigslist or kijiji or gumtree or what-have-you….lowballing huge right from the start. Just pisses you off.
Highest fee a player in Scotland has sold for is Dembele for 20m, so doesn’t seem that insulting. The fees up there are more in line with the English Championship.
United just paid 18m for Daniel James from Swansea.
Still upset that you paid us three quarters of a million for Martin Hayes?
Ha!…Still upset you got Nicholas for three quarters of million from us!!
Money (which is not any of ours really) aside Bhoy74, could you tell us a little bit about how young Kieran has been for you?
North London is Redder Kieran Tierney has the full package for a left back. I watched him 5 years ago breaking through at 17, better then than the 1st team regular by the end of that season & made the left back his own. Watching him live was fantastic, you could see he was a player at that time, & is now Celtic’s best player. Has Played in the Euro league group & last 32 against Inter, stood out in these games & coped with the step up at 17-18. Also 2 years of Champs League & stood out against… Read more »
But we don’t have the full package for a budget.
We have 40m
Whether we can riase another 60m is another issue.
If we waste resource by spreading thin and buying helter skelter in positions that can afford to wait, we risk compromise in quality elsewhere that we need.
This is not well thought out.
What on earth are you talking about? They only want 25m…..
I don’t recall anybody at the club officially stating the transfer budget is £40 million. Some dodgy publication like the Sun or Express pulled it out of their ass and now tards like you are running with it like it’s gospel.
This 40 million pound budget is a load of bollocks. We have had cash reserves for years, we spent more than that amount on both Auba and Lacazette in a single fee and our sponsorship deals have just got sky rocketed. We’ve got about 400k off our wage budget without sales.
Why so many downvotes? It’s true.
Ok…you got us. £15,000,001. Deal?
Not insulting at all. It’s Scotland. Who wouldn’t want to leave there?
Good signing. A sign the club maybe people at the club d actually have some idea what they’re doing despite all the negativity at the moment… can’t sell Kolasinac fast enough
I’d only sell Kola if we get a really good offer for him, but if not I’ll keep.
I know many have written him off, but as a back up fullback/wing back, he’s more than reasonable and very capable (going forward). Plus he IS 25, still can improve.
Whereas if we sell him and keep Monreal, we’ll be back in the market looking for a back up LB really soon, probably by the next window, when I’d prefer we use our money in other areas of the club by then.
It is a tough choice though.
I believe Kolasinac’s wages are high as we got him for free (and certainly too high for how he was playing Later on in the season.) he can’t play lb only wb as well. We are already largely overpaying a couple players in our squad as we all know, and if we’re goinf to be smart in the transfer market we really can’t afford to do that. Monreal appears to be in decline now but as a backup left back and centre back I’d be happy for another year. I think his wages are more like 70-80k rather than Kolasinac… Read more »
Is he any good?
Who cares it’s a transfer! The next Andy Robertson I’ve heard…:-)
Ha gotta love the attitude..
I have it on good account that Tierney is as good and possibly better the LB position is a real job’s between the two for Scotland. Would love it if it happened.
‘A real jobshare ‘
If he’s anywhere near Andy Robertson, what the fuck are they waiting on. I just watched him on youtube. He looks like the best left back in the world.
On youtube, Gael Clichy looks like the best left back in the world too.
I wouldn’t mind having Kola playing higher up in the mid field or winger placing those passes to Auba and Laca. This is great news!
“Those passes” are not great though…get some cash for the tank?
??????
I love Nacho, but if we can get any money for him it would make sense to sell. I’m no fan of Kolasinac, but he is decent on the wing, so I’d hang on to him as cover for another year until we know if Tierney is a good fit.
No one is going to buy a 33 yr old with one year left on his contract lol.
I would keep both Nacho and Kola. Different skillsets provide multiple options to manager to tweak tactics in matches. In a 3-5-2 Kolasinac is better suited than a 4-4-2. It seems he needs boost in confidence because he can contribute in multiple ways as WB/LW and be a complete backup on left channel.
Next offer from Arsenal £15,000,001
Celtic…. “Like…. WTF is this?”
Ornstein tweets “Talks between Arsenal+Celtic have broken down”…
“Arsenal fans go into meltdown after Tierney signs for Newcastle for £15,000,002”
Welcome to the 2019/20 season…..
The board talk endlessly about competing with the best and champions league football but have neither the money nor the ambition or brains to do so.
When you talk of players like Tierney playing for a team in such a weak, tin pot league as being a great signing then you have no business talking of challenging for anything.
Tierney is the sort of player that Palace or Wolves sign.
I would rather not spend money than to waste it like this….
Van Dijk seems to have turned into a pretty decent defender following his time there. We have a limited budget which means we have to take shots in players with potential rather than going simply for the big name
Why would you write off a player before we’ve even signed him based on what league he came from? There are clearly some quality players playing outside the top leagues in europe. Guendouzi and Rob Holding are good examples of that. And they came from leagues that aren’t seen to be as good as the Scottish League.
The Question to be asked is….are Arsenal a big enough team now for Tierney to leave Celtic for?
Haha. Ask Tierney that question then. He’ll sprint, you can jog.
Tierney looks OK.
BUT the danger is we are stretching the budget with no fundamental plan.
Where we should be concentrating on 2 or 3 players max in other more priority areas and bringing in higher quality, we look like we are ready to bring numbers at expense to ability.
And this is a danger.
Shocking that whilst other teams like Everton and West Ham are aiming higher for Andre Gomes and Fornals, we are prepared to bring in ligue two players (lightning does not strike twice) and younger solutions at Cback who have not played a full season.
Hahaha, nice try but if its a bite you are after, you`ll have to try a bit harder.
Completely disagree. He’s a very good player and we will be lucky to have him
The Dutch top division is not really very good either, and yet Barcelona, Juventus, and Real Madrid get into bidding wars for their players.
I’d keep Kola. He gives us tactical flexibility and after all we want to be chameleons. That said, we haven’t made any signings.
Fullback area does not need immediate attention. We have bigger priorities elsewhere. Plus a small budget in danger of being dissipated. Kolasinac caught a bit of Jenkinson toward the end but overall the team was fundamentally poor last 7 matches. OTOH in first part of campaign, there were plenty of excellent runs and assists from the left. Kolasinac and Iwobi formed a very good and intuitive partenership and with back 3, it played to his strengths. He struggles a bit more with back 4 but that is not to say he cannot improve in that context. Plus keeping Monreal still… Read more »
Get a proper job.
He’s still waiting to hear if he has the technical director job or not.
Id keep Monreal on account of the fact that he can play. Kolasinac is another Wenger signing knicking a living as a defender in the EPL. Signed on a free. We overpaid.
Time to straighten out those (k)nickers, Wenger’s gone.
His players aren’t though
Was Monreal signed by Bruce Rioch? I had no idea he was that old.
Given their ages and contract lengths selling Kolasinac this summer and releasing Monreal at the end of next season is a more efficient way of ridding the club of Wenger’s stench. That has to be the overriding priority in rebuilding the club.
They’ve called this an embarrassment. Hope this doesn’t turn into another Suarezesque Saga. What about those samdoria guys ? We’ve lost out on them apparently as well. Haha
Let’s just get this Youth Project 2.0 started with already. Bring in Nelson, Beilik, Saka, Willock from the academy. A LB, RW and LW and a CB. One of the wingers and the CB to be the marquee signings.
This would be a great singing. We all love Nacho, however we have to be a bit smarter with our financial position. If we can secure Tierney, we should attempt to shift Monreal on whilst we can still command some kind of fee. I imagine he is on quite big wages too due to tenure and the contract extension. SK isn’t a great defender but will do as a back up or attacking wing back shall we need him, then ideally next season we have a younger player to come through and we could maybe shift SK on for a… Read more »
I would move Kola on and promote from the academy next season as back up to Tierney after understudying him and Nacho.
Probably a good player for us. BUT we don’t need him right now. There are FAR greater priorities to add and we have a very limited budget. Seems a bit piecemeal the approach this summer, grasping at whatever is ‘convenient’. If this was a free or a very cheap price (5m and under), it would be an opportunity buy. Anything higher is a distraction if not will encumber our small budget and have grave bearing on other areas. Not impressed with what we have been doing. Very confused and helter skelter. Would much rather extend Monreal (even at 33, same… Read more »
Do you ever get bored of yourself repeating the same thing over and over on the same thread? Just asking for a friend.
This is a pretty interesting deal. He’s well hyped. This is the sort of deal we need to do now. The sort Southampton were making a few years ago before they flogged all those players to Liverpool and us. Only we should be keeping him and building if he fulfils his potential, not selling him on. Personally I would keep Kolasinac too, as a second choice. I know not everyone likes him but when he performs well he is quite imposing. If he can build on that, improve his defensive work rate and give a bit more variety to his… Read more »
We’ll still arsenal this up somehow, probably wait like 3 weeks to go back in with another bid. Hope I’m wrong though.
..or make a 2nd bid of less than the initial bid. ?
I just read he had a double hernia op last month. Anyone know the recovery time on that?
I came back to 5 a side from one in about 6 weeks, and I’m a fat bastard with no underlying athletic ability or professional trainers
I’d be happy with Tierney, and maybe look to start the season at 4-4-2 considering our two best players are strikers – in the same way Uruguay set up. We should also definitely go for Everton; he’s looked very good for Brasil in the Copa America so far, he’s 23, can play on either wing or forward, and plays for Grêmio, mid table in the Brasileiro Série A, so likely wouldn’t command a huge fee. Dani Alves also available on a free if we want to go for another experienced right back as cover for Bellerin.
I think we should sell Nacho since he is getting older and if we get a good offer for kola sell him also and bring Osei tutu as back up to Tierney…
Nacho Monreal Reasons to keep: – Consistent good over a long period of time (except last year). – Well liked by fans and seems to care. – Can play left sided CB in a 3, LB and LWB sort of equally well. – Reasonable salary (65,000/week). – Wouldn’t bring in a significant transfer fee. Reasons to leave: – Already looked like he was slowing down last year, might turn into a bit of a Lichsteiner in the next couple of years. – Picking up injuries more frequently, risk of becoming an Arteta/Mertesacker type situation. Sead Kolasinac Reasons to keep: –… Read more »