Kieran Tierney to Celtic latest: Wage discussions and what Mikel Arteta and Brendan Rodgers have said

Arsenal star Kieran Tierney faces an uncertain future as he nears the end of his current contract. The Scot will see his contract at the Emirates Stadium expire at the end of this season, and the North London club will not be offering him an extension.

Tierney recently recovered from a long-term hamstring injury, and he is now back in the frame, aided by a number of injuries at the left-back position. But speculation surrounds his future, with Celtic reportedly interested in striking a pre-contract agreement. Here we round up the latest surrounding the transfer saga.

The report

One of the latest reports concerning Tierney has claimed that Celtic are pushing to strike an agreement with the defender, now free to agree a pre-contract ahead of the summer. Wages are the obvious sticking point, with the Scot’s wage currently much more than what boyhood and former club Celtic can offer him.

But The Mirror report that conversations over wages and how to resolve the issue are now ongoing. It has been reported that Tierney is keen on the move, but Celtic may be about to find out just how keen, given the personal sacrifice it would take for the full-back to secure a move.

What Arteta has said about Tierney

With Arteta needing to use Tierney for depth currently due to a number of injury issues, he said of the Scot recently: "He's fully committed, he's enjoying things after a long period again with a really tough injury. Live the moment. He's a big part of the squad now. He deserves to be in the squad, he played really well the other day after such a long time. That's the only thing I can say."

What Brendan Rodgers has said about Tierney

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers was asked about a possible Tierney move recently. "On Tuesday I flew to Dublin to have a meeting with Dermot, just talking about January. We are always looking forward," Rodgers told BBC Sport.

"We'll always be linked with top players and especially players that are one of us. Kieran was an instrumental part of a really, really successful period when I was here. His talents then took him to another challenge but we'll be linked with lots of names and with Kieran naturally because of his situation. But we'll only talk about a player once he's signed."

What Tierney has said

Tierney addressed his future back in the summer, taking a realistic view of his chances of playing regularly in the long term. he told The Athletic: "There is every chance. Look at the squad depth in that position now. They have (Oleksandr) Zinchenko, (Jurrien) Timber, (Takehiro) Tomiyasu, (Jakub) Kiwior. Four players can play there. So if I go back and it's the same as before then I'm not silly, I know the chances are I'll be leaving.

"But you never know in football. You get the rare case with (William) Saliba, where he came back after a couple of good seasons (out on loan) but you don't see it too often with someone who has played for four years, left, and then come back to play again."