Lennon: We will not be selling Tierney on the cheap

NEIL LENNON has warned Celtic will not be pushovers in any Kieran Tierney transfer after rejecting a second bid from Arsenal.

Celtic are thought to have set a £25m (€27.7m) price tag for the left-back, with Arsenal’s latest bid reported to have fallen short in terms of the add-ons.

The Scottish champions have seen Moussa Dembele linked with a huge summer move less than 12 months after selling him for £19m (€21m) and earlier sold Virgil van Dijk for an initial £13m (€14m), before seeing Southampton move him on to Liverpool for five times that price. So they will stand firm in their valuation of the Scotland international.

Lennon said: “I don’t know what Arsenal’s financial state is, I know what ours is and we are quite comfortable. There has been a second bid, the bid has been rejected, and it’s as you were.

“Whether they come in again or not, I can’t answer that.

“He’s a great player and a great talent and at 22 he has already achieved a hell of a lot in his career and has so much more to give to the game.”

Lennon was asked if Arsenal’s bid was disrespectful given Manchester United recently paid Crystal Palace £50m (€55m) for full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

“Disrespectful is strong, but I do feel our valuation of Kieran is correct,” Lennon said.

Tierney (pictured) is still not in contention to play following a double hernia and pelvic problems.

Another left-back, Boli Bolingoli, has recovered from an ankle injury in time for today’s Champions League qualifier against Sarajevo (7.45), with Celtic 3-1 up after the away leg. Lennon has told his team to be positive ahead of the second leg of the first qualifying round.

“(We need to) go out and try to win the game and don’t be complacent, and show Sarajevo the respect we showed them in the first leg,” he said.

“While it’s a good lead, it’s not over yet. It’s another step forward in terms of getting a game under our belt and hopefully we can be sharper and fitter.”

Summer signing Christopher Jullien is unlikely to be match fitness, while Mikey Johnston (thigh), Marian Shved (groin) and Vakoun Bayo (hamstring) are just short of comebacks.