I saw Tierney himself say in a press conference about 2 weeks before the Scottish cup final that the hernia was causing the other problem and that the operation on the hernia would fix everything.
I genuinely believe this whole saga has been an attempt by Celtic at controlling the narrative in order to stop a backlash from the fans that could derail their Champions League qualifiers and possibly even the domestic football after that.
Some of the things Lennon and his buddy in the press have come out with are just baffling. They clearly want the money and want to sell. Otherwise why run stories that talk up a potential bid? What's there to gain for a Scottish Sun reporter that plays 5-aside football with Neil Lennon once a week to stir that particular pot? And who is Lennon speaking to when he says Tierney has a debilitating injury problem still ongoing? Arsenal? "Okay, cheers, Neil. Thanks for that vital information, we'd like £10m knocked off the asking price now please or we'll move on". Or is it much more likely he's talking to the Celtic fans? Trying to stage manage their reaction to losing their best player and golden boy.
I'm not saying they aren't after a good deal and negotiations are ongoing. But they've already gone out and bought a starting left back to replace Tierney, and splashed an unusually high amount by their standards on a centreback.
It all smells very fishy from where I stand.
