Former Celtic scout David Moss has explained how Muirhouse's Kieran Tierney almost never made it at Parkhead.
The 24-year-old is now an established English Premier League player with Arsenal and a key player for Scotland's national team, but it hasn't always been this good for the defender.
Hailing from Muirhouse, Tierney rose through the Celtic academy before becoming a mainstay with the Hoops, prior to his 2019 exit.
But during his days in the youth academy, Tierney wasn't even considered the brightest prospect in that position. This was due to his physicality and being smaller than others.
Moss was Celtic's head of scouting at the time and says he looked past Tierney's height to identify a star in the making.
"Tierney was only 13 when I joined Celtic, and in my third or fourth week, we went to a tournament for top clubs in Belgium," Moss told Goal.
"We were playing Barcelona and Real Madrid and he was on the bench as a second choice left-back.
"It was like that until the Under-16s really. It was because he was smaller than the others and there was another one they preferred at the time.
"Sometimes you have to look past the immediate output and see potential, and that's what I saw in Kieran. I always saw Kieran had determination and character, which is a big part of being a professional.
"He isn’t a Wilfried Zaha (who Moss also helped develop) in terms of technique or catching the eye, but he does have some technical ability and combines it with being athletic and mentally strong."
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