Ancelotti: Napoli won’t make move for Tierney

CARLO Ancelotti, the legendary Napoli manager who has been repeatedly linked with a move for Kieran Tierney this summer, last night admitted he is aware of the Celtic left-back and believes he is “a really good player”.

However, Ancelotti, who is keen to bring in another left-back before the summer transfer window closes at the end of next month, stressed that he won’t be making a move for the Scotland defender.

The Italian was speaking after his Serie A club had defeated Champions League winners Liverpool 3-0 in a pre-season friendly at Murrayfield this afternoon in front of a massive crowd of 65,442 supporters.

“Am I aware of Kieran Tierney?” the former Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Napoli manager said. “I know him and he is a really good player. He is a really good, young leftback, but he is a Celtic player.

“We are looking for a lot of players for this coming season, but he is a Celtic player and we have two good left-backs. But honestly I can say he is a really good player.”

Asked if he was interested in taking the £25 million-rated Celtic left back, who has been the subject of two failed bids from Premier League club Arsenal in recent weeks, to Napoli Ancelotti replied: “No.”

Ancelotti had been linked with a move for Nicolas Pepe this summer – but the Lille winger has agreed to join Arsenal in a £72m transfer and is set to complete his transfer to London this week.

Asked about Pepe moving to England, he said: “I’m not disappointed. I don’t like to talk about players of other teams. The market is so long. We are looking. If there are opportunities, we can do it.”

Asked about Napoli’s comfortable win over Liverpool, he said: “I am happy, but nothing more. It is still pre-season and there would be something wrong if we were ready now.

“I thought [Lorenzo] Insigne played really well. Defensively we were good and we were dangerous on the counter attack.

“It was a beautiful stadium, beautiful pitch, beautiful atmosphere