Kieran Tierney returns to Celtic on five-year deal

June 10, 2025

Kieran Tierney has returned to Celtic on a five-year contract, six years after leaving Parkhead for Premier League giants Arsenal.

Tierney earned his boyhood club a £25 million payday when making the switch to the Gunners in August 2019, leaving Celtic after 14 years of progressing through the ranks to become a first team star.

Prior to that, Tierney made 170 appearances for Celtic – scoring eight times. He recently won his 50th international cap for Scotland and returns to the club with a wealth of experience under his belt.

In January, the Hoops announced Tierney had agreed a pre-contract to return in July. Despite their best efforts, Celtic weren’t able to get him on board for the second half of the 2024-25 season.

The defender won five league titles, three Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups with Celtic before departing and now comes back to play under Brendan Rodgers, the manager who helped develop his early career.

“Everybody’s known for a few months and just to be here with the Celtic strip on again just feels amazing,” Tierney said.

“I spoke with the manager, and obviously I had worked with him before and I’ve always kept in touch with him. He’s one of the best so I’m so lucky and grateful that he’s given me the chance to come back again.

He’s home.

#bacKToparadise | #CelticFC

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) June 10, 2025

Tierney featured frequently in his first season under Mikel Arteta, winning Arsenal’s Player of the Month award for June and starting in the FA Cup Final win over Chelsea.

He grew into a fan favourite, playing 38 games in 2020-21 – after which he was rewarded with a new long-term contract – before suffering a season-ending knee injury the following year after 25 games that derailed his career at the Emirates.

The 28-year-old struggled with more injuries towards the back end of his spell with Arsenal and eventually lost his starting left-back spot to Oleksandr Zinchenko during the 2022-23 season.

His playing time diminished significantly, leading to a loan move to La Liga outfit Real Sociedad in 2023-24 which was also marred by injury woes.

Celtic have won four straight Scottish Premiership titles and are 2/5 with the best football betting sites to make it a consecutive five in the 2025-26 season.