Tierney in for Celtic’s Euro bid as Everton cool on £25m move
Brown backs £9m signing to play key role this term along with Griffiths and Dembele
KIERAN TIERNEY will remain on board for Celtic’s Champions League qualification bid after Everton backed away from a planned £25million move.
The English Premier League club had placed the 21-year-old at the top of their list of potential left-back signings, but their interest has cooled in the face of Celtic’s expected transfer demands.
Conscious that the Scottish champions are prepared to play hardball in negotiations — along with the fact that Tierney has no desire to force a transfer — the Merseyside club are taking stock of their position.
Celtic’s bargaining position is strengthened by the fact the Scotland international signed a six-year contract last summer and, while open to the possibility of pursuing his career in England, is settled at the club he supports.
Sportsmail understands that Everton have not made an official offer for Tierney and are now considering other solutions to their full-back vacancy. Tierney played in Celtic’s latest pre-season friendly against Shamrock Rovers yesterday and produced a fine assist for the first of two Odsonne Edouard goals in a 7-0 win.
He will today fly to Armenia with the rest of his team-mates for Tuesday’s qualifier against Alashkert in Yerevan as Celtic’s bid to secure a third successive campaign in the Champions League group stages begins.
ANEW centre-half is desirable. The purchase of a left-back could soon become a necessity. Moves are afoot to recruit a high-energy midfield replacement for the departed Stuart Armstrong. Yet as Brendan Rodgers approaches Celtic’s first Champions League assignment at this unfeasibly early summer juncture, he can console himself with the fact his striking department remains fully stocked.
The record deal to sign Odsonne Edouard from Paris Saint-Germain ensured that Celtic travel to Armenia with a developing partnership between two young French strikers.
No longer the slightly apprehensive teenager who arrived on loan from Paris Saint-Germain last August, Edouard is set for a major role this season — one befitting the terms of a deal that could eventually cost Celtic £9million.
Versatile enough to be deployed behind the main frontman or out wide, Edouard’s arrival need not sound the death knell for Leigh Griffith’s prospects either. Probably the truest and most clinical striker of a ball at the club, Griffiths may have missed yesterday’s friendly win over Shamrock Rovers in Dublin, but he has had an active pre-season and has expressed his desire to pen a new contract with the club.
And yet the main man remains Moussa Dembele, who — like Griffiths — did not look 100-per-cent fit for most of last term.
Outstanding in the Scottish Cup final victory over Motherwell in May, the former Fulham striker went off and scored his customary goal for the French Under-21 side before embarking on a process of rest and conditioning work that has had Rodgers purring over his lean physical condition.
Since arriving for a nominal development fee two years ago, Dembele has consistently been linked with a move away from the Scottish champions but this has been an unusually quiet summer summer for the 21-year-old.
With Armstrong sold to Southampton and Everton eyeing a move for Kieran Tierney, club captain Scott Brown hopes it stays that way.
‘The speculation with Moussa keeps coming round but you are always going to get that with quality players,’ says Brown. ‘But Moussa is here. Odsonne and Griff are here, too, so we have three strikers.
‘Each has different qualities and I think that’s why the manager decided to bring in Odsonne this summer. Moussa is strong, Griff is a finisher and Odsonne can play wide. Those options allow us to be flexible and it shows the strength in depth we have.’
A fit Dembele would appear to remain the No1 choice for the biggest games but there is a reason Rodgers sanctioned such a huge spend on Edouard.
The 20-year-old was raw and unvarnished when he arrived in Scotland and, after an impressive debut at Hamilton, he soon disappeared from view as the Celtic staff gave him some breathing space to retune his game and adapt to the surroundings.
His late winning goal from the bench in an Old Firm derby at Ibrox was an obvious turning point. His rampaging, two-goal performance in the next derby was simply explosive.
‘Odsonne was fantastic,’ continues Brown. ‘He turned up and scored in the big games — he knew what he was going to do. I’m sure it was a big change for him coming to Glasgow from PSG. It’s not fazed him, though.
‘He came in and worked hard. The manager is always on about people pressing and he can do that. He has pace and he has goals in his locker. He is now holding the ball up better than ever.
‘Odsonne seems to be enjoying his football and likes being around the lads. It helps that he is a good young boy.
‘He is still very young but the manager has put a lot of trust in him.
‘The fact he has come back shows how much he wants to be here. It’s great for the club and it shows our intent to be in the Champions League once again.’
The task of reaching the group stage has never been more arduous. Celtic may have qualified for the competition in successive years but this year’s reward for completing a clean sweep of domestic honours was to be pitched into an extra qualifying round — one which sees them start sooner than any of the Europa League entrants who finished below them in last term’s Premiership.
‘That’s just the way UEFA have made it for us — they don’t see Scotland as a big nation,’ muses Brown. ‘Scotland have not done so well in recent years and the other Scottish teams have struggled to qualify for the Europa League.
‘We are getting kind of used to it. Each season, we’ve been coming back, short and sharp, then we’re straight into it.’ Despite the quick return — and the prospect of a 5,000-mileround trip to face the Armenian champions in Yerevan — Brown insists he feels fresh, partly due to his decision to retire from international football.
‘I got four weeks off this year,’ he quips. ‘I got ten days last year, so that’s a big improvement. ‘If I had gone away with Scotland for the two weeks at the end of the season, it would have made it harder. I wouldn’t have been able to have two weeks where I just chilled out before starting up again.
‘So it’s working out so far, I’m rested. I think all the players have looked after themselves — everybody looks in good condition.’