Brendan Rodgers responds to rumours Celtic want to sign Arsenal star

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has refused to fuel speculation of a move for Kieran Tierney but admits the club need to ‘improve the squad in a number of key areas’ ahead of the January transfer window.

Tierney made his first appearance of the season in Arsenal’s Carabao Cup quarter-final victory over Crystal Palace on Wednesday night, playing 69 minutes before being replaced by Myles Lewis-Skelly.

A combination of injury problems and Mikel Arteta’s preference for inverted full-backs has seen Tierney drop down the pecking order in north London and the 27-year-old spent last season on loan at La Liga outfit Real Sociedad.

Shortly after Arsenal’s defeat of Palace, a report from The Athletic claimed club had decided against activating an option to extend Tierney’s contract, with the defender set for the exit door at the Emirates.

The Gunners are believed to be open to the idea of selling Tierney this winter and the Scotland international has been heavily linked with a return to Celtic.

A lifelong Celtic supporter, Tierney joined the Scottish giants aged just seven and went on to make 170 appearances for his boyhood team before completing a £25million switch to Arsenal five years ago.

Rodgers shared a good relationship with Tierney during his first spell in charge of Celtic, even handing the left-back the captain’s armband in 2017, with the pair winning two league titles together.

However, when asked about rumours of a possible reunion with Tierney this afternoon, Rodgers remained tight-lipped and refused to discuss specific transfer targets.

‘Kieran is someone I know really well but there will be lots of players linked with coming to Celtic,’ he told Sky Sports.

‘We will never speak about a player, especially a young player who is at another club. But we’ve got work to do, we know that. We want to improve the squad further in a number of key areas.

‘But until that happens, the players we’ve got here have been working so well and we’ll just continue to work with them and see what happens in January.’

Tierney appeared to hobble off the pitch in Arsenal’s midweek win over Palace but Arteta played down fears that the Scot may have picked up an injury at his post-match press conference.

Asked whether Tierney could be set for another layoff, the Spaniard replied: ‘No, just cramp.’

On Tierney’s performance, Arteta added: ‘It’s just playing each player in their strengths. That’s something that we have to continue to learn because players give you a lot of information.

‘They tell you, not so much with their words, but with a lot of information where they feel more comfortable.

‘Certainly there is a much better fit for him.’

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