CELTIC goalkeeper Craig Gordon has backed Kieran Tierney to live up to his price tag if a big-money move to Arsenal goes through before the end of the transfer window.
The English side are believed to have once again renewed their efforts to prise Tierney away from his boyhood club by restructuring the £25m offer that was rejected by Celtic last week.
Having made his own move to England back in 2007, signing for Sunderland for a then record British fee for a goalkeeper of £9m, Gordon knows the expectation that Tierney would have to live up to if he too should move south of the border.
But he is in no doubt that the 22-year-old has both the temperament and the ability to be a success in the English Premier League.
“We don’t quite know what’s happening with Kieran as yet,” Gordon said. “We’ll see how things pan out in the last few days of the window.
“But he’s got all the ability in the world, Kieran. He’s also got the work ethic to go down there and be successful. He’s got the desire to be the best he can be in every single training session and every single game.
“He leads in all the stats, one of the top two or three in that. That’s because he pushes himself so hard. It’s a great thing to have in anybody’s team.
“It’ll be great for us if he does stay and continues to play as he has done because he’s been so consistent for so many years now.
“But if he goes then it’s a great price tag. It’ll need to be big because he’s so good.”
Gordon believes too that Celtic have been right to hold out for their valuation of Tierney, and that his market value shouldn’t be lessened simply because he is coming from a club in Scotland.
“For a Scottish player it is a big price tag,” he said. “But then you look at some of the other players going for bigger fees.
“You can’t say Kieran isn’t worth that kind of money. Listen, my fee looks tiny these days in comparison to the deals getting done now, but that’s just the way it’s gone with the market values in the game.
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“It is what it is, and I don’t think anyone can put the price tags on the players’ shoulders. It’s nothing to do with them.
“A £25m player could have been £5m a few years ago. That’s just what it is so we almost have to put that to one side and not look at the figures and only concentrate on the ability of the player. And Kieran has everything you’d want in a modern day full-back.
“Whoever manages to get him playing for them this season is lucky because he’s going to be a massive player for us or anybody else.”
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