Captain knows Kieran must choose one day

WHETHER it’s this week or a couple of years down the line, Celtic captain Scott Brown knows Kieran Tierney will have an almighty career decision to make.

Everton are expected to table a bid of up to £25million for Tierney within the next few days and, if the Parkhead hierarchy choose to accept the money, manager Brendan Rodgers has intimated that he would not stand in the way of a life-changing move south for the 21-year-old.

Brown may have chosen to spend his entire career in Scotland, but he can understand the attraction of a switch to the English Premier League on a package that could be worth as much as £60,000 per week to the young defender.

Brown has acted as a mentor to the Parkhead academy graduate and reckons the player will be torn over the prospect of leaving the club he loves.

‘KT will probably get an offer at some stage,’ said Brown, who led out a Celtic team featuring Tierney for yesterday’s friendly against Bohemians in the Austrian town of Wels. ‘A club will come in and put in a bid to give him that chance to move on.

‘You never know what will happen, but KT loves it here. He loves playing in front of these Celtic fans because he is one of them.

‘He will have a decision to make but don’t forget he also has the opportunity to play Champions League here.’

Celtic may not be able to compete with EPL wages, but Brown is in a position to dangle a unique loyalty bonus in front of his young colleague.

Now 33, Brown admits the captain’s armband he has worn for the best part of a decade will inevitably be up for grabs before the conclusion of the six-year contract Tierney signed with Celtic last October.

For some time now, Brown has regarded Tierney as his natural successor.

Scotland’s Young Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons and already a fixture in the Scottish national team, Tierney has a reputation as one of Britain’s best young defenders.

‘I don’t see why Kieran shouldn’t be Celtic captain,’ said Brown. ‘He is the right man for the job. I think the main thing is to get a top-quality player as the captain of your club and he is definitely one of the best I have played with.

‘The way he goes up and down the park, his ability on the ball, he is just going to get better.

‘You see his character in training, he is one of those who doesn’t like losing. We had a six-a-side competition during the week and I was lucky enough to be on his team — the winning team.

‘He always remembers his roots, too. He hangs round with the same mates and lives in the same area with his mum and dad. That shows you what a top-quality lad he is.’

It was under Ronny Deila that Tierney first emerged, but few at the club envisaged quite how big an impact he would make on the first team. Pitched into a largely uninspiring

team, the teenager’s emergence gave the supporters a figure to rally round. The appointment of Rodgers in 2016 then took his game to a new level.

Brown continued: ‘He has got better as every season has gone by. You can see why everyone wants him. He is top quality.

‘I have not seen a player in the SPFL go past him — or the Champions League for that matter. With his fighting power, his strength and ability on the ball, everyone forgets how young he is. He has won the Young Player of the Year award three times in a row and if he sticks around he will get that again.

‘We have all the faith in the world in the wee man. He loves the club and loves playing under the manager.’

Tierney’s Lanarkshire roots mean he is unlikely to get carried away but there was a potentially head-turning moment last week when his team-mate Stuart Armstrong struck a deal that has taken him to Southampton on a deal said to have trebled his wage.

The £7m sale of the midfielder follows a familiar pathway trod by Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster and Virgil van Dijk, and Brown has no doubt the 26-year-old will be a success south of the border.

‘I’m delighted for Stuart and he will show what he can do down in England,’ said Brown. ‘We’ve had a lot of players leave for Southampton and they have done really well.

‘I’m disappointed that he has gone because he was good to play alongside in the middle of the park.

‘He scores goals and his engine and workrate are phenomenal. He will adapt no problem.’

With Olivier Ntcham a year into his Celtic career and Callum McGregor scaling new heights, Brown is not short of back-up in the middle of the pitch, even after Armstrong’s departure.

‘The three of us are all tight in there,’ added Brown. ‘We’ve got to know each other’s games.

‘Olivier has a bit of skill, strength and quality, and he has goals too. He seems to enjoy it here. Cal has been phenomenal, he plays in that hole and scores goals in big games.’

KT has got better every season. You can see why everyone wants him