Former Celtic manager Ronny Deila believes that new Arsenal signing Kieran Tierney will be a huge success in the Premier League.
Delia was the manager who gave the full back his chance in the first team when he gave him his debut in the Scottish Premiership match against Dundee United in April 2015.
That appearance would be the first of 170 in the hoops of Celtic, before he completed a summer move to Emirates for £25m - a record amount for a player moving from Scottish football.
Tierney is following in the footsteps of former Celtic player Virgil Van Dijk, who excelled after making the move from Scotland to the Premier League in 2015.
"I am as sure as I was with Virgil van Dijk that he is going to make it,” Delia told the Telegraph . “To take it to the highest level you need something special and these players are special.”
“His attitude was maybe the best I have ever seen,”
“He had a physique that was unbelievable — so quick, he had stamina, he was strong. He was also intelligent and at the same time very good one against one, going both ways. The ability, football-wise, was really really good. But the best was his attitude.”
The 22-year-old started his career as a winger, but was converted to a full-back role before making the first team at Celtic, Delia explained why the change of position benefited the player.
“I saw him a lot in the second team, where he played as a winger, but I was very determined that he needed to play every game as a full-back,” he said.
“I don’t think he was good enough with his back to goal. His best position was left-back and he played there all the time after that and just improved and improved.
“He is growing up all the time. Technically he has improved as well. His crossing is better, but he still needs to work on that to get to the highest level. For me, he just needs to be injury free. Then he will learn and he will adapt very quickly to the level he goes to. I am not scared of him going to Arsenal — he will adapt to the top level of the Premier League very quick, I’m sure.”
