According to AA’s transfer correspondent RC78, all the signs are that Kieran Tierney will be the first top quality player to join Arsenal this transfer window.
In characteristic style, we are testing the water with bids well below Celtic’s valuation. So far offers of £15m and then £17.5m have been rejected with Celtic holding out for a package thought to be in the region of £25m. It seems likely that if we dig a bit deeper and come up with £20m plus add-ons, the player will be ours.
Celtic are prepared to sell and the player wants to come to The Arsenal. Much as I admire Nacho, he’s been a great servant to the team, but we need to invest in the future and 22 year old Tierney is a much needed upgrade.
The Celtic supporters love Tierney. Although still only very young, he has captained the side and consistently put in performances to a very high standard. He has his own song on the terraces, and this one was was released … it’s worth watching for the bullet left foot shot into the top corner from 40 yards ….
Don’t get too carried away by that goal, he’s not (currently) a prolific goalscorer having scored 5 goals in 102 league appearences for Celtic, but he does embody all the attributes that it appears Unai Emery seeks in his players.
He’s strong, aggressive in his play, works very hard but has the pace and skill to get forward and deliver quality crosses into the box. Physically he’s perfectly built for the role of left back. He’s 5ft 10in, lean and muscular … and brave. He’s not a player to give up on a 50/50 ball or to shirk a hard challenge .. he’s a winner.
We need to spend our £40m transfer budget wisely. If half of it goes to buy Tierney and we can find another player of similar age and quality to reinforce elsewhere on the pitch then the task or rebuilding Arsenal will be off to a good start.
Arsenal have had many great players from North of the border over the years … and from Ireland for that matter. Let’s hope that with KT, we return to some of those great old traditions and put some Scottish steel in our back line.
Rasp
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
With all this haggling, anyone would think we’re at a bloody car boot sale!!
He does look good – what I’ve seen of him – so let’s get this deal over the line, stop penny pinching & offer a decent amount, that Celtic can’t turn down, because if we miss out on him, it’ll be pretty embarrassing!!
Things will start happening from Monday!!!
Morning Sue, I share your trepidation about this deal. If one of the big spenders comes in for him (probably as a bench player) then we could miss out. Things may begin to happen on Monday. I expect Martinelli to arrive once Edu takes up his post on the 7th.
You won’t get him if Rodgers sells his left back for £70m he knows KT and will easily part with £25m+ for him. I guess penny pinching will hurt you this season
Rasp – you are too quick at writing quality posts. Now I feel the pressure about this transfer happening… I must call Kroenke… Lol
Tierney is likened to Trent Arnold and Robertson so that s a good thing plus he comes with a fighting attitude. Although LB is not a major priority, I d be happy if he joins and if Nacho is sold. Will he be our next Ashley Cole?
2 players that we must target this summer are Mina from Everton as CB and Pulgar from Bologna at DM.
Hi RC, yes, I’m holding you personally responsible for this transfer going through now 🙂 We have had some great left backs in the past …. and some players playing wide recently who couldn’t deliver the milk … so it’s KT for me!
On the subject of posts … it only takes the germ of an idea and a few swiftly cobbled together lines to give everyone some thing to chat about on here … at least until you all start flirting with Sue again 🙂
Hello Rasp.. wouldn’t it be typical Arsenal, for that to happen 😄 I am a little surprised they’re letting him go though.. if we ever decide to cough up, that’ll probably be big bucks to them – they can buy another Scott Sinclair 🤣
Looking forward to Edu coming back 👍
I agree Sue. My hope is that the new people runnning the business side of the club won’t fall back into the style of penny pinching procrastination that led us to missing out on good players in the past. To be honest, I’d rather buy one decent player a season for £40m and bring through academy youngsters than miss out and end up with 2nd or 3rd choices.
Totally agree, Rasp! 1 decent player – as in Zaha?! 😊🙏
Can’t handle any more 35m panic buys 😂
You’re being VERY optimistic if you seriously believe Celtic will sell Tierney for ‘£20m + add-ons’. Anyone would think you’re a ‘Billy big boots’ of a club that has a god given right to sign players from Scotland for a fraction of their worth…Well you won’t. Start at £30m plus add-ons and maybe business will be done..but only if Kieran actually wants to go to Arsenal.
Tierney is a fighter and has steel, something your back line doesn’t have. If you want to attract the best then don’t start insulting by offering peanuts. If you want to have illusions of grandeur by dining at the big boys’ table then start acting like big boys and not spoilt wee children. Europe doesn’t come to those who wait.
Hi Joe & Steven … the reports (if you can ever believe them) are that Celtic would accept £25m. However I agree he is worth more than we are offering. There is no doubt that the two clubs are in negotiations.
joe … I can assure you that most Arsenal supporters don’t think we are a ‘Billy big boots’ of a club as you describe us … but we are a club that in EPL history has gone a whole season unbeaten, that has won the FA cup more times than any other club, that has played some of the best football ever seen in this country and has a history, stadium and a fanbase making Arsenal one of Europe’s top clubs. The article was written with due respect to Celtic so I don’t understand your tone?
As Klopp said, you have to splash the cash to be successful these days. Easier said than done in our case. We re offering what we can and if it s insulting to clubs than be it…
Tierney and Zaha want to join but we may not be able to match their club s valuation… Be it… I don’t think it s being disrespectful.
Rasp, I’m not speaking for joe but my own views on your comments. Like Celtic we always refer to what we have done in the past – 1st British team to win the European cup etc….but we’re not in the past, we are in the present and both teams are planning to make ourselves better for the future. In the past you were able to cherry pick a number of Scots for very little money, but the past has now developed into the present and the climate has changed. Charlie Nicholas was bought from us for £750,000, so what would that translate into a transfer fee now? A couple of million pounds?
Where has all the Arsenal money that is awash in your league? What have you done with it?
£25 million for KT, taken into context is nothing compared to what you would pay for a left back in todays climate. Look at his contribution in Europe and Emery sees what he’s hoping to get. If he thinks that Peter Lawwell will lie down and have his belly rubbed for what you are prepared to pay for PL, then Emery is a fool.
Hi Steven, thanks for joining in with the spirit of the post. Unlike Chelsea and Man City who have owners who are prepared to invest in the club and don’t mind if they don’t recoup that expenditure … or man utd whose brand is so lucrative that they can service huge loans … Arsenal have Stan Kroenke! He’s a billionnaire, his wife is also a billionaire (part of the Wallmart family).
Stan owns sports franchises in the US and elsewhere. He never invests his own money, he expects his acquisitions to be self sustaining. The owners of Leicester City will invest more money in their club than Arsenal.
Yes we’ve had a rich history in the past, but we’re entering a new era and more EPL clubs are being bought by owners who want to promote a brand/country. Stan is unlikely to sell Arsenal any time soon, he doesn’t need the money and thanks to the competition for shares from Usmanov, his investment has grown very nicely.
…. so basically, £20m is about all we can afford if we want to bring in more than one player this window … Tierney’s a good player … you can’t blame us for trying. Also, he will be more in the shop window playing for Arsenal and no doubt there will be a hefty sell-on clause in the contract if the deal can be made.
Good post Rasp, shame about the Damien Quinn song, reckon I’ll give him a swerve next time I’m in HMV, but Arsenal actually have a pretty chequered record in buying players directly from Scottish clubs, I’m not sure if it’s a London thing either because Tottenham have had great success sourcing players in that market.
Off the top of my head I can think of Ian Ure, Dundee, Peter Marinello, Hibs, Alex Cropley, Hibs, Charlie Nicholas, Celtic, they all had mixed careers at Highbury and maybe that’s why Arsenal look to the continent for players more often than not…
Arsenal have had some great Scottish players (not for a long time though) but we’ve usually got them from other English clubs.
Wasn’t Tierney actually born in England?
He was born on The Isle of Mann
Thanks for the post Rasp, it sounds like he’s just what we need …… good strong young player.
If Celtic are prepared to sell then your point about a sell on clause has added value for them.
Let’s see what happens ….
Dear Billy Big Boots,
Thank you for the Post, but please give those big boots back to me, the little ones you left me are hurting my toes.
It was amusing to read the earlier comments betwixt you and the Celtic lads — for a second I thought the haggling between you all would result in an agreed price that would be used to instruct the clubs — just worried that the respective clubs would then tell all three of you to take a hike! 😛
any song with one of our own i find trash
also couldn’t they have atleast show him doing something else beside the long range bullet smh
Wan Bisaaka to Utd for 45 mln + 5 mln bonuses. Not a good news for our chase of Tierney…In the meantime, Keita Balde is also monitored by our club. He s OK
And Rabiot joins Juventus
hysically he’s perfectly built for the role of left back – we thought the same about Kolasinac didn’t we
I believe Arsenal will sell Abu. This despite signing Tierney.If Pool or MU get him and he helps either one to the epl title,the fans will be greatly distressed.
Believe me shd such a scenario happen all fans shd not renew their season tickets.The US owner shd have sold his shares to the Russian who was willing to spend big.
We will have to wait and see how the gunners finish in may 2020.
But frankly I believe the gunners could finally be a mid table team
Allezkev
But look at the good ones we’ve had…….
….Jimmy Logie, Alex James, Tommy Doherty, Frank McLintock, George Graham, Eddie Kelly, David Herd, and Robert Wilson……..wherever they came from. (GN5 would have quoted them without looking them up, like me).
Where are you, AA Historian without equal when we need you?
Malaysian
Chin up, worse things happen at sea! I have a feeling that the combination of a couple/ three buys with our talented youth and things will be quite different next year. Mid table….never, sir.
Misunderstandings can happen, and I too was hoping that GN5 and BR would have returned by now.
I still hope that is the case.
Home the balde news isn’t true, reminds me of Theo
Yea they will
And my boys better return especially since they have my mercy arsene t shirt (talking to u chas and Eddie)
What does he have over kolasinac that has u all so excited the year kola came he was schalka best player
rc78 if u watched Colombia games yesterday u will want nothing to do with Mina, j know I don’t
Plus he will be expensive since Everton paid huge for him
What if you never get your Merci Arsene t shirt back, Fred?!! I would say you could have mine… but no chance 😀
Seaman & Dimmock (oops I mean Parlour 😄) are at the Armoury on Monday…. new kits!!! 👍
Hi Fred – didn’t Mina get man of the match award? They didn’t even concede a goal during the tournament so am sure he has smt to do with it. He s a good defender and he s good on the ball. He s good in the air as well. To be honest, he s more than adequate replacement for Mustafi and he is definitely better than Mavro. Kos wants to leave
Lol from the time I saw you could have mine I got super excited, probably should have stop reading there
Rc78 that just unfair comparing him with mustafi lol
Colombia not concede yesterday was more due to VAR since they had 2 perfectly good goals taken away
That was cruel of me, Fred! I’m sorry 😆 not very often you’re given something from AFC is it?! Even if it was just a t shirt 😜
Torreira not getting games for Uruguay wonder why
On in second half
Uruguay out damn so the 2 side i wanted to win knocked out on pens
great penalty by Torriera though make him the pen taker next year
Bloody Suarez missing his penalty, Fred! I bet he’s biting the GK as we speak 🤣
Shame they’re out.. Chile can’t win it overall 🙏
There’s some great names you’ve come up with LBG…
Alex James is arguably the finest footballer to ever wear the Arsenal shirt, we got him from Preston North End for around £9,000 in 1928 if my memory serves me right, the same summer Herbert Chapman signed a 17 year old Cliff Bastin from Exeter City and what a duo they became.
My Dad used to tell me about Jimmy Logie, he was one of our key players in those teams that won two championships and the 1950 FACup. I’m not sure where he came from, but I think that he was playing for our nursery club Margate before the War.
He ended up selling the Evening Standard outside Leicester Square tube station in the 1970’s (?)…
GN5 would know for sure.
George Graham joined us from Chelsea, Frank McLintock joined from Leicester City, Bob Wilson was an amateur at Wolves when he joined us, I think we had to pay a small fee for him, Eddie Kelly was a youth who we got from Possilpark YMCA, a Glasgow youth team, the others I’m not sure about…
Lol I thought the exact same thing someone will have a bite to say for that lose
Well Chile definitely have one foot in the finals now, u know what even more impressive is how calm the south American are at taking penalties
Allezkev, thank you for your additions to my list!
Between us we added a bit to the post yesterday, even if we cant quite match the Master Craftsman that is GN5!
I see several blogs are singing our tune this morning … KT would be ours for £25m …. Pay da money!!!!!
If we cant raise an extra £30m or so to buy other targets by selling some of the peripheral players then we really are in trouble in terms of our ability to do business.
AK,
That £9,000 in 1928 for Alex James would be worth £540,000 in today’s currency.
That is a tidy sum, given the context of football in those days, with nary a Sheikh, rattle or roll in sight. 😜
The big guns are playing today (Elneny & Iwobi 😀)
The U21 final should be a good game!
Sue – Crystal Palace wont let Zaha go for less than 100 mln… Sorry
🥺 gutted, RC!!! I knew they’d slap a ridiculous fee on him… they’ve just lost AWB, they weren’t going to let him go too!!
That really is a bummer – well for me anyway!!
I woiuldn’t take any notice of the £100m valuation. He’ll probably be too much for us at £30-50m. The noises suggest he’s keen to leave, if only we had the CL money we might have been able to raise enough.
Big oh please
Not really after zaha flopped at Manu I am sceptical about him,
Oh Rasp… you’re torturing me 🤪 those if onlys are a killer!!!
Fred… the dog/piano man has flopped at United 😜
Yea let’s hope he continues to do so
I like Zaha but I d rather go for Rafa Silva or for Douglas Costa or even for Perisic. We need someone who is also good at defending… Rafa Silva would be a smart move – apparently Arresca impressed as well during the Copa America
Rafa Silv is not feasible since I just saw thst he extended his contract with his club until 2024 and now has a release clause of 80 mln EUR… Shame, he s quality
RC
You regularly mention Douglas Costa and even Perisic, but Zaha knows the Premier League and would hit the ground running, and has already made his mistake by being at Manure. He also seems to want to come.
I like Zaha but I feel that he is overpriced. Douglas Costa and Perisic don’t know the EPl but I feel that good players adapt relatively quickly. DC and Perisic are international players so the risk is less
Apart from being too old and too expensive, he spends too much time falling down to be on any use.
He is only saying now that he wants to come to us because none of the other top clubs would touch him with a barge pole.
How many goals did he score last season? That is ignoring the penalties he “earned” by diving?
Exactly jig all of a sudden last year he sayings he wants CL football so now way we are an option
That why I not interested he isn’t a goal scorer I sure Nelson can give us the same output as him
Fred
But what about Nelson on one side and Zaha on the other. Laca or Aubang as striker.
Mesut/A M-N/or Smith-Rowe behind them and Terrier and new defensive MFielder behind that.
Back four of Tierney, Holding (Sokratis or Mavrapanos), Saliba, and Bellerin?
So where is the £200m for that lot coming from?
Perhaps we should try crowdfunding
🙂 jjgsol … I was thinking exactly the same thing. If we were lucky enough to sell all those frequently listed ‘dependables’ I can only see us raising an extra £50-70m tops!
I still think lacazette and aubameyang should be starting together, they were so brilliant last year why should one be punished by being bench
One of the reason I don’t want zaha transfer is cause we still have the likes of iwobi, rowe etc I think as we are rebuilding use the players we have, see if they are arsenal material if not sell,
We zaha what happens to iwobi what he goes to the bench, if iwobi not got enough self him then get a replacement
Is zaha seriously better than iwobi mkhitarian
Another thing isn’t torriera already our defensive midfielder
Fred
Terrier is Torreira. Zaha is better than Wobbly particularly in terms of end product by far.
Jigsol and Rasp. Sell Mustafi, Elneny, Xhaka and, as I hinted before, Aubang and viola!
See my AA comment!
So, having stirred the pot again this morning( but only with my opinion, not just to be obstreperous!), question.
If AAers could have one extra wide player( to add to Nelson who I want to see regularly next season) would you chose Carrasco, Fraser, Perisuc or Zaha?
5.40 comment was for Fred who still communicates with me on WordPress as well as site proper!
Perisic!
Morning Raddy
Great work from Jonny and Woakesey. Shut that loud mouthed Vaughan up for the time being.
Morning all cricket loving AAers!
Fred.. Imo Zaha is miles better than Iwobi!!!! Although most players are 🤣🤣 and I’d rather have him over Mkhi too!!
LBG.. Zaha
It’s July!!! Goodbye Puma.. hello Adidas 🥰
The kits are out!! Our new signings will be unveiled today 😂😂 yeah right, that’s wishful thinking!!
Oh god… We re being linked with Malcolm now. He won’t cut the mustard at Arsenal and especially under Emery. He should go to Italy or France or Portugal rather than the EPl.
Morning RC78 … we’ve adapted your email into a post … hope you’re ok with that ….
Yes. It s totally fine
…take that as a yes 🙂 ….
….. New post ….
:), I’ve just seen your response … thank you …
Fraser