CELTIC CONFIDENTIAL: Why Mikel Arteta could regret letting Kieran Tierney go this summer… and the Parkhead flop who’s going to be a double title winner

If Kieran Tierney’s return to prominence these last few months is anything to go by, then Celtic may just have pulled off the swoop of the century in securing the services of the Parkhead favourite on a free transfer.

Fresh from making his first start in almost two years in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brentford at the weekend, the full-back looks to have consigned those persistent concerns about his physical fragility to the dustbin.

You can’t help but wonder if Mikel Arteta, a man not averse to a little self-introspection, is having trouble getting to sleep at night thinking about his club’s failure to take up the option to retain Tierney’s services for another year.

For so long it appeared Tierney had lost the trust of his manager following the cursed luck that saw him spend vast swathes of his time in north London on the treatment table. Groin, knee, ankle, hamstring — you name it, he’s hurt it.

But one part of his anatomy that has clearly been untroubled has been his heart, evidenced both by the steely way he’s fought his way back into the first-team picture and by the conviction of his will to return ‘home’ to his first love Celtic.

It has emerged that the 27-year-old spurned options as diverse and attractive as Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Sevilla and Everton to commit his best years to life back in Glasgow’s east end.

Celtic-bound Tierney is looking stronger than ever and getting more chances to play at Arsenal

Is it possible that MIkel Arteta will regret allowing Tierney to return to Celtic so easily?

The fact that the club have picked him up on a free transfer just six years after collecting £25million for his services must feel like some kind of player-trading voodoo magic to those envious eyes watching from across the city at Rangers.

Reality is certainly beginning to hit home for Arsenal fans, who have been flooding social media with laments over the loss of a man who so clearly gives 100 per cent to his team in a way that just seems alien in the modern era.

The affection in which he is held by supporters and team-mates alike was evident in the anguish experienced by all when a first-half header was ruled out by VAR at the weekend.

With Arsenal afflicted by injuries across the board this season, Arteta has had to get creative in certain areas of the pitch in his bid to try to keep pace with Liverpool while making inroads in the Champions League. In a fully-fit Tierney, he has a flexible friend able to play anywhere on the left-hand side of the pitch, with the Scot having been deployed at left-back, left midfield and even left wing since reappearing at the turn of the year.

He can expect plenty more game time between now and the end of the season, and no one deserves a fairytale finish more than the man who has so selflessly and doggedly endured through all the setbacks and rejections that have befallen him.

Should Arsenal finish off the job against Real Madrid in the second leg of their quarter-final epic on Wednesday evening, Celtic could yet find themselves with a Champions League winner in their squad next season. It would be a redemption story to trump them all.

Jeremie Frimpong is the gift that just keeps on giving for Celtic 

Good business on full-backs could be a bit of a theme at Parkhead this summer, especially when Jeremie Frimpong confirms his exit from Bayer Leverkusen in the coming weeks.

The Dutch international is widely expected to replace Real Madrid-bound Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool, with Frimpong having given the biggest hint yet of his future in a comical moment caught on camera when on duty with the Netherlands last month.

Frimpong was filmed greeting international colleague Ryan Gravenberch and cheekily mocking up a heavy Scouse accent as the pair embraced warmly in the Dutch camp on Nations League duty, with Anfield skipper Virgil van Dijk looking on knowingly in the background.

Jeremie Frimpong was a hugely popular figure during his time at Celtic Park

The full-back is now a star for the Netherlands and Leverkusen, with Liverpool his next stop

Celtic will be laughing all the way to the bank, just like Frimpong, if he joins Anfield giants

The former Celtic flyer, who left Parkhead for Leverkusen in an £11.5million deal in 2021, is understood to have been in regular contact with Liverpool boss Arne Slot and while there is no shortage of interest in a man who has 41 goal involvements across the last two seasons, his move to the north west appears inevitable.

Regardless of where he ends up, however, Celtic will be laughing all the way to the bank having secured a 30 per cent cut of the profits from his Leverkusen sale.

The 24-year-old is understood to have a £34million release fee built into his contract with the reigning Bundesliga champions, meaning any sale at that price will result in a £22.5m profit — of which Celtic would be assured £6.75m.

So, taking his original sale into account, that would make it £18.25m banked on Frimpong — not bad for a player signed for £350,000 from Manchester City back in 2019! 

Fringe man Luis Palma is on verge of winning TWO titles this term  

Pretty soon, Celtic winger Luis Palma will be able to claim that he has won two titles this season, albeit by making only a modest contribution to each of them.

When summer comes round, the Honduras international who joined Olympiakos on loan in January will have won championships with both his parent club and his temporary one.

The Greek side won their country’s Super League with a victory against AEK Athens on Sunday night, and Celtic require just one more point to repeat the title success that Palma was part of a year ago.

Luis Palma will be able to say he has won titles with Celtic and loan club Olympiakos this term

The Parkhead fringe man has appeared in just six league matches for the Greek side so far

Palma arrived at Parkhead with a good reputation but the move hasn’t really worked out

Whether the 25-year-old will have any medals to show for his efforts this season is another matter. He has played in only eight league games for Celtic, not enough to make him eligible under SPFL rules.

And, despite a goal and an assist in the Greek Cup semi-final, he has appeared in just six league matches for Olympiakos, raising doubts as to whether they will take up their option to buy.

On paper, it has been a successful season for Palma, whose Celtic contract has three more years to run. On grass, the story is a little different for the player whose future is nothing if not uncertain.

There’s only two Stiliyan Petrovs … and one is standing for Reform!  

More than a few Celtic fans were forgiven a double take when it was announced the other day that Stiliyan Petrov is to stand as a candidate for Reform UK in the forthcoming local elections.

The popular Bulgarian is a celebrated former Celtic midfielder, as well as a respected football pundit, but he is nobody’s idea of an up-and-coming politician with the party led by Nigel Farage.

Of course, as it quickly became clear, it is not that Stiliyan Petrov who has been confirmed as a candidate for Warwickshire County Council’s Lapworth and West Kenilworth ward, but his 22-year-old son of the same name.

Celtic fans were surprised when they saw the name Stiliyan Petrov associated with Reform UK

It turned out to be the Celtic legend’s son, also Stiliyan, pictured with party leader Nigel Farage

Former Celtic midfielder Petrov is pictured with Stiliyan junior when his son was a baby

In a video that featured him doing keepy-ups and rewiring a fuse box in his job as an electrician, Stiliyan junior promised to stand up for working-class people and the youth of this country with ‘a voice that will actually represent them’.

The son of Bulgaria’s most capped player will presumably also take a tough stand on immigration and support the kind of populist, right-wing policies that are anathema to a large proportion of Celtic’s support.

Some fans quickly voiced their anger on social media, and it is probably no coincidence that Stiliyan senior has now offered a diplomatic response to the news — distancing himself not from his son, but from the politics he stands for.

‘First of all, I’ve never been into politics and I never will be,’ said Petrov. ‘My son is passionate about the world and I’ve strongly encouraged that.

‘Even though we haven’t agreed in certain cases, he’s his own man. He’s an independent, young man who works hard, he’s happy to help the community and he draws his own path in life.

‘With young kids now, they have their own choices. But I’m miles away from politics. I don’t have an interest whatsoever.’

Elena Sadiku knows it’s win or bust for the rest of the campaign 

Elena Sadiku is refusing to concede defeat in the SWPL title race, insisting instead that her Celtic team can still finish top of the table by winning all seven of their remaining games.

The defending champions earned a 1-1 draw with Rangers at Broadwood on Sunday, when their substitute, Amy Gallacher, cancelled out Kirsty Howat’s early opener.

While they would prefer to have ended a winless run that now extends to five games, Celtic edged a point closer to the top, thanks to Hibs’ defeat by Hearts.

Sadiku admits that her Celtic strugglers can’t afford to drop any more points in SWPL

Amy Gallacher celebrates scoring a welcome equaliser for Celtic in 1-1 draw with Rangers

Fourth-placed Celtic are now eight adrift, with the same points total as fifth-placed Hearts, but Sadiku saw enough from her players against Rangers to believe that the weekend was a turning point.

In their next two matches, against Hibs and Motherwell this week, the aim is to take up where they left off in the derby. And if they do, Sadiku believes they will gather much-needed momentum as the season approaches its climax.

‘We have to go and win every game between now and the end of the season,’ said the Swede. ‘We have to believe that is possible.

‘It is a huge game for us now on Wednesday night against Hibs but they are all huge games now. I was disappointed not to get the three points but I was proud of the second half because the players came out and showed how much they wanted to win the game.

‘This is the week where we turn things over. Right now the mood is good in the camp. We are in it until the end. We have everything in our hands.’