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Kieran Tierney was Celtic's golden boy, a product of the youth academy and a player earmarked to be a future captain of the club.

The left-back is a phenomenal talent who showed during Brendan Rodgers' first spell in charge that he could compete at the top level in the Champions League and many expected him to have a long career at Parkhead. That obviously did not turn out to be the case, as the Scotland international moved to Premier League giants Arsenal in the summer of 2019. Tierney's reasons for leaving the club are well-documented. Injuries sustained in his final season at Parkhead left him feeling like the window was closing on his career, and he chose to move down south. Most fans have now made their peace with this, despite the obvious disappointment at the time

The 26-year-old has been linked with a return to the club this summer after falling out of favour under Mikael Arteta last season. The Gunners enjoyed a positive campaign despite missing out on the title, but Tierney was not a regular starter as he was in previous seasons. This, combined with the return of Rodgers, has fuelled speculation that the Lennoxtown graduate could be on his way back to Glasgow.

On a number of levels, though, it feels like a transfer that would not be suitable. Of course, from a footballing perspective and an emotional one, it would be a phenomenal signing. Tierney would instantly become the best defender in Scotland and arguably the most talented player in the country if he was to come back to Celtic. It would be an elite-level signing that would take the club to the next level in Europe. There is no question of his ability, as shown by the wonderful assist he provided for Scott McTominay's second goal against Spain for Scotland earlier this year.

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However, taking the emotion out of the situation, it just does not look feasible. The most obvious barrier is the finances. Tierney is under contract until 2026 and reportedly earning over £100,000 a week. It is thought it would take at least £30million plus to get Arsenal to the negotiating table, money Celtic are not going to spend. That rules out any permanent move in the near future. Rodgers also addressed some of the speculation recently, saying: "There’s been lots of players linked with here with me coming back. All I know is Kieran is like myself, we loved our time here. When I spoke to him down the road in the Premier League, every time we met up all we talked about was Celtic. He’s a Celtic man but he’s at a fantastic club in Arsenal. You can just never say never in football. Who knows what might happen? We wouldn’t be able to buy Kieran for £25-£30million, that’s for sure, or the figures I see banded about. I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t be able to pay the huge salary he’s on."

That probably sums things up well. However, the most recent links have been of a loan deal for Tierney which throws up a different discussion. It would help with the finances to an extent, given Arsenal would be paying a portion of the wages, but there would still be a significant outlay. It would be an expensive and short-term route for the club to go down. There would be little chance of Tierney returning for the following campaign meaning Celtic would once again be plugging gaps for short-term gain, which was the sort of strategy that led to the disastrous 2020-21 campaign.  

Expensive loans do not fit into Celtic's transfer model anymore. Moves for players like Charly Musonda and Shane Duffy are things of the past, and it would be better if it stayed that way. There are no indications that Celtic plan on returning to this concept, as the signings so far this summer have shown they are still being smart with their recruitment. The arrivals of Odin Thiago Holm, Marco Tilio, Hyunjun Yang, Hyeokyu Kwon and Maik Nawrocki signal the strategy is the same in terms of bringing in promising young players and trying to develop them.

There is, of course, room for marquee names to an extent, and fans will undoubtedly want to see at least a couple of high-profile players brought in to help the club be competitive in the Champions League. But those arrivals must be permanent moves that allow for continued development or for the players sold on at a later date. Expensive loan deals do not offer thes things, which is why a move for Tierney on this type of transfer would not be helpful going forward.

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"Coming in there were already positions I felt we could improve on," Rodgers said recently. "But we’re in a period of assessment right now. What we have done is try to plan for the future with some of the signings that have come in. Ones that could play now but will be really value going forward. It’s too late when the future comes, but that’s one of the things I’ve been really impressed with, this process of planning behind the scenes from Michael Nicholson and  Mark Lawwell. There’s a really good process in place and the club is in a really good place."

Tierney arriving on loan does not seem to fit that bill. It feels like there could be a chance of him returning at some point, but this summer, given the circumstances, would not be the right time.