LENNON IS EYEING A JACKPOT
TIERNEY SPECIAL Celtic boss has a shopping list of talent as he seeks a slice of Tierney’s £25m fee
FOOTBALL managers are greedy and, given the choice, Neil Lennon would prefer the £25million coming in for Kieran Tierney to accrue little or no interest.
‘Yeah, I’ll be standing with my hands out,’ he grinned.
Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell is no Mr Bumble just as Lennon is no Oliver Twist. Yet, for Celtic managers, the task of asking the master for more crumbs from the table is never straightforward.
A Scottish record transfer fee will strengthen the position of the Premiership champions as the wealthiest club in the country.
Whether Celtic’s board see the need to invest it in quality players capable of reaching the group stage of the Champions League and outmuscling Rangers remains to be seen.
‘We’ll look to bring another left-back in,’ said Lennon. ‘No question. And a right-back, as well. And a left winger. And a right winger. And maybe a centre-forward.’
While Celtic remain a significant attraction to players, the same can’t always be said of the Scottish league.
In the past, the Parkhead side have sold the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Victor Wanyama to Southampton before they moved on to Liverpool and Tottenham respectively.
Bournemouth fancied Tierney, but by selling their top asset to Arsenal — a top-six side in the English Premier League — Celtic have effectively cut out the middle man.
‘He wouldn’t have left us for some of those clubs you’ve mentioned,’ added Lennon. ‘It’s more about his football ambition as well as financial.
‘It’s a of money. Not only that, it’s a brilliant advertisement for the club and the academy. He’s been a brilliant player for us and obviously he’ll be a big loss to us. But you don’t want to stop what you would say is his natural progress.
‘He’s an outstanding kid and it’s been a difficult four or five weeks for him personally. We wish him well.’
The reaction of some Celtic supporters has been less pragmatic. Offered a mammoth £75,000 a week for five years, it was inconceivable that Tierney could possibly stay put, no matter how strong his bond with supporters.
Arsenal’s interest in the Scotland left-back has been a slow burner, stemming back to the days when Tierney employed Raymond Sparkes as his agent. When he moved to the Stellar Group, it was natural to assume the interest was becoming serious.
Celtic looked to insert a tenper-cent sell-on clause in the deal and Lennon suspects that will prove a shrewd piece of business one day.
‘He can go all the way,’ added the Parkhead boss. ‘We forget he’s 22, so he’s not even matured fully yet. He’s got so much ahead of him.
‘He’s been outstanding for Celtic and Scotland. This might be a big weight off his mind now, but it’ll be a new challenge for him.
‘It might be difficult for him to adjust to because of his home life in Scotland and how much he loves Celtic. It’s a real wrench for him to go. But it’s progression, isn’t it?
‘We don’t all see it as that but, financially, he’s going to be in a better place and he’ll be playing in the Premier League. It’s a great place for him to play and thrive at another great club.’
The arrival of Tierney, who has been besieged by Arsenal and Celtic supporters offering free advice on social media, takes Unai Emery’s summer spend to well over £100m.
Until news came of a bid being accepted while Celtic were playing Cluj in Romania on Wednesday night, the whole business was becoming a tedious affair. A test of Lennon’s man-management skills — and one that reminded him of his own experience as a player when he left Leicester City to join Celtic in 2000.
‘I just told him to keep calm and just to try and stay in the present and not envisage what it’s going to be like,’ said the Parkhead boss. ‘It can easily run away from you.
‘He just had to let things take their course. We have a resolution which is maybe a relief for a lot of people around it as well.’
For many supporters, relief was not the dominant emotion. For some weeks now, many had been dreading the news of Tierney’s departure.
The full-back never hid his love of Celtic, and the feelings were reciprocated by fans who viewed him as one of their own.
To a support base still smarting over declarations of love and devotion from Brendan Rodgers, the realisation that Tierney is first and foremost a professional footballer has come like a splash of cold water to the face.
The reaction from some has been that of a jilted lover, with accusations of treachery and deceit being bandied about.
‘The opportunity may never come again,’ reasoned Lennon. ‘The kid has lofty ambitions and the next step for him is to play in the Premier League.
‘We want to keep making Celtic an attractive proposition for any player. We feel we are making steps in the right direction on that. If we can get into the Champions League, then we become a very attractive proposition for a lot of players.’
They took a step closer to that target with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their third-round qualifying tie in Romania.
Victory over Cluj in Glasgow on Tuesday night would secure a do-or-die play-off clash with Slavia Prague.
‘We knew it was going to be physical and they’d put balls into our box,’ said Lennon. ‘I think in the main we dealt with it pretty well. Browny (Scott Brown) was terrific in the second half, really using all his experience and nous with a real captain’s role.
‘We’re just delighted, we really are, because it’s a big, big result for us. It puts us in a good position.’
Even so, the reason Lennon wants some of the £25m to bring in four or five quality signings is not hard to find.
Signed as Tierney’s replacement from Rapid Vienna for a fee of almost £3m, Boli Bolingoli’s performance against Cluj was erratic.
‘A little bit, a little bit,’ acknowledged Lennon. ‘Look, he did fine. He did fine, absolutely fine.’
Max Lowe of Derby County and Greg Taylor of Kilmarnock are potential options at leftback. With £25m coming in, Celtic can afford to spread the net wide.