Arsenal sent transfer message as Brendan Rodgers breaks silence on Kieran Tierney Celtic return

Brendan Rodgers remained coy when he was asked whether or not Celtic will make a move for Kieran Tierney in the January transfer window. The 27-year-old defender has been heavily linked with an exit from Arsenal, with his contract at the Emirates Stadium set to expire in the summer.

According to The Athletic, the Gunners have decided against activating the option to extend his contract by a further 12-months. The report states that Tierney has been made aware of the club's decision, making him available on a free transfer at the end of the season.

It's said that the Scotland international, who's recently returned from a hamstring injury, has already courted interest from clubs in England, with a return to Celtic also on the cards. Nevertheless, from January, foreign clubs will be eligible to open talks with the left-back over a free transfer in the summer.

Or, if Arsenal want to recuperate a slice of the £25m they paid the Scottish giants in August 2019, they can offload him for a cut-price fee in the upcoming transfer window. Speaking to Sky Sports Friday, Rodgers was quizzed on his plans for January and Tierney's future.

"Well, Kieran is someone I know really well but there's lots of players who have been linked with coming to Celtic. We will never speak about a player, especially a young player that's at another club. But we've got work to do, we know that.

"We want to improve the squad further in a number of key areas. But until that happens, the players here have been working so well. We'll just continue to work with them and see what happens in January."

In an interview with talkSPORT in April, as quoted by football.scotland, Tierney was asked if he could see himself playing for Celtic again. The Scotsman replied: "Who knows? You never know in football; it’s a connection that I’ll always have, somewhere I imagine I’ll always be linked with if I’m to move from any club, so you never know."

He added: "You never know in football. It's probably quite rare that it happens when you come back from a loan. Of course you've got circumstances like [William] Saliba when they just come back and I don't think he's been out the team since - he's not been on the bench since.

"But it's maybe a bit different for someone who has played four years already goes back [into the team]. But you genuinely never know, football is a mad place, so let's see what happens."

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