Pundit and former England and Celtic striker Chris Sutton has taken issue with Arsenal’s recent approach to sign Celtic’s Kieran Tierney. Writing in the Daily Record, the retired striker says that the Gunners’ rejected bid for the Scottish full-back should be regarded as “disrespectful”.
Sutton believes that English clubs feel that they can “get away with transfer market murder”. He also believes that Tierney himself should be offended by the north London club’s low offers for his services.
Clearly, Sutton would like to see the Bhoys continue to stand their ground and refuse to be bullied into selling their prized asset for less than his true value. This is something that the Glasgow giants have been guilty of in the past, according to Sutton.
For instance, Southampton signed Virgil van Dijk from Celtic in the summer of 2015 for £13 million, as reported by the BBC. Two years later, the Dutch centre-back joined Liverpool for £75 million. Sutton believes that Celtic “undersold themselves badly in the van Dijk deal”. He also claims that he said so at the time. Sutton says that he felt that the club’s decision to allow the towering defender to join the Saints for such a measly fee was “inexplicable”.
The once-capped ex-England man now believes Celtic are in danger of underselling themselves again with Tierney. He is keen to see the club learn from past mistakes and hold their ground. Meanwhile, his opinion of Arsenal’s low-ball offers is that they’re indicative of a footballing system and culture that mocks Scottish football.