Everton poised to make £25m bid for Celtic full-back Kieran Tierney
Everton are preparing to bid £25 million for Celtic’s highly-rated left back Kieran Tierney.
New manager Marco Silva and director of football Marcel Brands are looking to rebuild the squad over the pre-season, and Tierney is a prime target. Silva wants a long-term successor to Leighton Baines, and the versatile Scot has proved himself capable in both full-back roles.
For his country he has played right back recently as he fights for his favoured position with Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson. The 21-year-old has also excelled at centre-back for his club.
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Tierney is a prized asset for the Scottish champions, who have become accustomed to Premier League interest in the youngster since he made his breakthrough.
He has been the Scottish Premier League’s Young Player of the Year for the last three seasons, and was given the Celtic captaincy on occasion over the last 12 months. He has also been tipped for international captaincy recently.
It would be a coup if Everton could convince the player to make the move to Goodison Park, or agree terms with Celtic. Brendan Rodgers will be desperate to keep his side together, not only to match the domestic treble feats of successive campaigns, but to make more of a mark in the Champions League.
Silva knows Everton’s squad needs a major revamp, despite the significant spending of a year ago. He must not only inject younger, pacier players but also offload the ageing stars he does not see as part of the future. That may be easier said than done given some significant salaries, despite the high profile exit of Wayne Rooney to Major League Soccer earlier this week.
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Everton are overloaded with players past their prime, and the imbalance was fatal to both Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce during the course of last season, facilitating another era of change at Goodison.
Tierney is the prototype target of the new management team – a young and exciting player who may be tempted by the challenge of the English Premier League.
