The first thought as stories of Celtic’s interest in a deal to bring Kieran Tierney back to Glasgow started to filter through, was that it may well be a convenient dead cat tale for the club after the disappointment of their Old Firm defeat at Ibrox on Thursday.
But with talks now firmly taking place between Celtic, Arsenal and Tierney’s representatives with a view to thrashing out a pre-contract agreement - and perhaps even a loan deal for the remainder of this season (and the remainder of his Arsenal contract) - it now appears that the notion of Tierney coming back home to his boyhood club is not as fanciful a notion as it may have been a year or two ago.
Just because you can do something, though, doesn’t necessarily mean that you should do it.
A deal to bring a reliably fit Tierney to Celtic would be a no-brainer for the club. But realistically, it would also be out of their reach.
As it stands though, Tierney’s well documented injury woes allied to his undying love for the club and desire to pull on the green and white hoops again, may well be enough to bridge the gap between what Celtic can afford to pay him, and the salary a fully fit and flying Tierney may realistically be able to command elsewhere.
Tierney’s ability is not, and has never been, in question. Arsenal signed him because when he is at his best - as also evidenced during his loan spell last season at Real Sociedad - he is comfortably able to hold his own among any company across the top five leagues.
Still, with the amount of football that Tierney played in his early career (often cited as the source of his body’s regular tendency to break down) it is also easy to forget that he is only 27. If Celtic can bring a player of such undoubted quality back to the club just as he is theoretically coming into his peak years, it could only be seen as a major coup.
How much would a left back of a similar level with no connection to the club cost Celtic? The same £25m Arsenal paid for him? Maybe more? Realistically, there would be little hope of doing so within their budget limitations, so if they have a chance of landing Tierney, it is hardly a shock that they would want to do so.
Ronny Deila was the manager who brought Tierney into the Celtic side as a youngster, but he emerged as a key man under Brendan Rodgers, and he played almost every minute available during his first reign when fit.
If he were to work with the full back again, the Celtic boss is sure to recognise that he would have to be used more sparingly, and his minutes would have to be managed more carefully.
What Tierney’s return would certainly seem to signal is the end of Greg Taylor’s Celtic career, with the current first choice left back yet to agree an extension to his contract, which expires at the end of this season.
As maligned as he has often been, Taylor has been a fine servant for Celtic, and pound-for-pound, he has represented incredible value for the couple of million quid that the club spent to sign him from Kilmarnock back in 2019.
Ironically, he has spent much of that time being unfairly judged as he attempted to break free from the shadow of comparisons to Tierney, but while he may never win over a rump of the Celtic support, he won over many of his doubters and was consistently relied upon by a series of managers due to his adaptability and his emergence as a dressing room leader.
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With the greatest of respect to Taylor though, the addition of Tierney would represent an inarguable upgrade in terms of quality in the position. So, perhaps the more important player to consider in accommodating Tierney’s arrival is actually Alex Valle.
The on-loan Barcelona youngster has impressed as he has shared responsibilities at left back with Taylor this season, and he may well be the key to ensuring that Tierney’s body isn’t pushed to breaking point (a lower bar now seemingly for him than most other players) once more.
Rodgers has to feel that he can bring Tierney out of the line up and the drop off in quality is not going to be so dramatic that it catastrophically affects the level of his team. And just as pertinently - touch wood - if Tierney does break down and is out for a significant period, he has to know he has someone in reserve who he can trust.
Valle would be that man, so finding a way to also bring him back to Celtic next season may be the insurance needed to take as much risk out of the signing of Tierney as possible.
On the face of it, then, signing Tierney may well be a gamble worth taking. If it pays off, and he stays fit, then what a player Celtic will have on their hands once again.
