Brendan Rodgers has backed Kieran Tierney’s decision to quit his boyhood heroes for Arsenal – while insisting the full-back’s heart will always belong to Celtic.
Leicester boss Rodgers is set to go head-to-head with Tierney in a Saturday evening showdown, the first time the pair have crossed paths since quitting Parkhead for England’s top flight.
In an exclusive Record Sport interview, Rodgers admits both he and Tierney have suffered a backlash form the hardcore Celtic support for deciding to swap a crack at 10 in a row for careers in the Premier League.
With Rodgers’ side defying all odds in third place and Tierney now making his mark as first-choice left-back at the Emirates, the Northern Irishman insists they were both right to make the move down south.
Rodgers also revealed how he talked a teenage Tierney out of a £10million move to the Gunners.
But he claimed the defender would have been mad to turn them down again in the summer when they returned with a record-breaking £25m bid.
And Rodgers said: “You can’t take out of him what he is – he’s a Celtic supporter and you can see his love for the club.
“But his career is short and there was an opportunity for him to go into the most competitive league in the world and he chose to do that.
“I’m told he has been criticised by some fans for leaving. I understand that and he’ll understand it too. We both know that, for a big part of the Celtic support, there is no other club in the world than Celtic.
“So when they feel like one of their own has chosen to move on they can’t understand it.
“Kieran and I both get that. We can see it from their perspective because it hurts.
“However, there is another side to your career and your life that you have to think about. He has decided to go down there, he has joined a great club and I have no doubt he’ll do very well there.”
Rodgers plans to give Tierney a warm welcome to the King Power.
He added: “From a personal perspective I’m very much looking forward to seeing him again.
“Kieran was absolutely brilliant for me during my time at Celtic – a great boy who was just so committed to playing for Celtic.
“He gave everything in training and did it with a real winning mentality.
“Every time he played for Celtic he poured absolutely everything into the shirt.
“But not too dissimilar to myself, he felt that the next professional challenge lay elsewhere.”
