Tam wrote:Daily Record reporting that we’re now ready to walk away. Apparently aren’t willing to pay the vast majority up front as Celtic would like us to. Think he’d have been a good signing but the price is getting a bit ridiculous.
feels like we're just posturing to get them to accept a payment schedule that is better for us. i doubt we'd have made 3 offers if we weren't willing to get this done.
Yeah perhaps. Celtic aren’t getting a £20m+ offer from anyone else. This is the best they’ll get. They’ll know they need to sell him eventually, I wonder if they’re willing to take that £5-10m hit on the top price to save face here.
That's pretty disappointing. I don't there's gonna be a better LB we can sign this summer.
Celtic starting to look a bit stupid here. I'm still afraid of this kid's injury issues, what other LBs are out there?
We’ll sign him
"debilitating osteitis pubis problem"
https://ihealthmama.com/osteitis-pubis/
Yikes!
So what now , who else can we go for ? Gaya? Ghoulam ( not sure if still injured ) ? Bertrand?
Wouldn't go for any of those.
Tam wrote:Yeah perhaps. Celtic aren’t getting a £20m+ offer from anyone else. This is the best they’ll get. They’ll know they need to sell him eventually, I wonder if they’re willing to take that £5-10m hit on the top price to save face here.
Even though our need is greater than theirs, we both lose as this is the second time they have denied him a move and he must be envious of Robertson at this stage. The worry i have is the word "debilitating" in the description of that injury if it means it's going to get worse with time.
As for Celtic, i used to like them from the days Rangers used to slap them around in the 90s and even more after Gazza went over. A lot of my goodwill towards them evaporated 10 years ago after the furore they caused when we knocked them out of the Champions League so i'm happy to say fuck-em.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/aug/27/arsenal-champions-league-celtic
They're a bunch of overly indignant pricks but I'll always have a soft spot for 'em.
If i'm honest, i still like them (though not as much as previously) as i was fully behind their amazing treble treble achievement.
technically we've spent very little so far. 5m installment for saliba, small loan fee for ceballos possibly. and we've brought in 3-4m from bennacer being sold
the club really do seem to be walking that tight rope in an attempt to land all the number 1 targets
as an aside, the citizen journalism on reddit is off the charts. cornering arsenal staff and asking about transfers. washington gooners all think they're ornstein now 
Wonder if our inability to move players (El Neny, Chambers, etc.) has hampered our ability to pay up front. We probably came in with a weak first bid, tried to increase it second/third time around, but don't have the financial weight to do it as we're in limbo.
change focus to a bees knees CB, and limp along with kola and nacho
No, we can't, not good enough. I hope this still happens.
Though we definitely need a CB.
Bold Tone wrote:Even though our need is greater than theirs, we both lose as this is the second time they have denied him a move and he must be envious of Robertson at this stage. The worry i have is the word "debilitating" in the description of that injury if it means it's going to get worse with time.
As for Celtic, i used to like them from the days Rangers used to slap them around in the 90s and even more after Gazza went over. A lot of my goodwill towards them evaporated 10 years ago after the furore they caused when we knocked them out of the Champions League so i'm happy to say fuck-em.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/aug/27/arsenal-champions-league-celtic
It’s not the second time they’ve denied him a move, he had no intention of moving to Everton last year.
I wasn’t worried about his injury history before, but this reoccurrence of the long standing issue is something that makes me a bit more apprehensive about the signing. He played on through it but really struggled last season. I wonder if that’s a big factor in the decision to withdraw too.
Celtic would have happily taken the money and structure we offered if there was a serious concern about injuries.
That's exactly what they want us to think!
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.
Agreed. They gambled on a bidding war which never materialised so final deal will probably be for something less than what the papers report.
Neil Lennon has pretty much ruled this one out. I hope we have a good plan b.
Our plan b is called Nacho Monreal, and I can't help but feel that we're going to live to regret that. We really needed a leftback.
No drama - can reinvest these funds elsewhere. Kieran Tierney won't make it break our season.
Junior Firpo of Real Betis would be a very good guy to turn to.
Tierney will come though. I'm confident it's all bluster.
Don Pacifico wrote:No drama - can reinvest these funds elsewhere. Kieran Tierney won't make it break our season.
No, but there's a good chance Monreal and Kolasinac will.
I'm not convinced it's as big a problem as stated. Yes, neither are ideal but we need to pick our battles and I think there are bigger deficiencies elsewhere in the squad.
I think a lot of people undervalue the importance of having good quality fullbacks. For me it's just as important as any other position on the pitch
Sicario wrote:Neil Lennon has pretty much ruled this one out. I hope we have a good plan b.
Don't think he is ruling it out but definitely trying to make it public and make it out like that. Maybe hoping for some backlash from Arsenal fans who are desperate for signings.
They want to sell the player but trying to hold out for as much as they can. I think we are trying to call their bluff because no other club is interested in him at the kind of money we are offering.
This is another example of what I'm talking about:
[Twitter]
What is there to gain from saying that?
To motivate the lad perhaps? he might be the sort who responds to that by thinking, no I won't, I'll show him I can get over it.
Who the hell knows.
Pulling three parties together is a monumemtal task. barring something going awry, this signing is done.
Also, don't believe all of the nonsense in the papers.
this feels like brinkmanship, given how publicly it's all being played out. i think we'll take 1 more crack before the deadline
We're 'linked' to Rodriguez of Milan supposedly for around 14m.
'Reports' Palace now want the entire fee paid up front.
You mean Celtic?
Ricky1985 wrote:This is another example of what I'm talking about:
[Twitter]
What is there to gain from saying that?
So if he leaves they can say his heart wasn't in it any more and essentially shift the blame onto him?
Anzac wrote:'Reports' Palace now want the entire fee paid up front.
I don't know where this whole thing has come from, historically most transfer fees were paid over the contract length. The only time I can think of upfront payment was if a bargain could be had as club was desperate or when you pay a release clause and you have to pay upfront.
Palace can fuck off. Keep your wantaway player.
JazzG wrote:Ricky1985 wrote:This is another example of what I'm talking about:
[Twitter]
What is there to gain from saying that?
So if he leaves they can say his heart wasn't in it any more and essentially shift the blame onto him?
I don’t think they need to. There will be a small minority of Celtic fans angry about it but most, certainly any I’ve spoken to, recognise it’s too big an opportunity for him and don’t begrudge him the move – especially with the money they will get for him.
I think Ricky is reading too much into Lennon’s words. It’s no secret Tierney has his price, nor that it is fairly well known. Celtic don’t need to sell him and would happily keep him. He wants to move for both developmental and financial reasons (Celtic also have a wage ceiling for academy players), but he’s also a die-hard fan and won’t rock the boat or force a move. I’m certain Lennon is just being very frank, he’s a fairly open speaker about matters such as this.
I can't see why he doesn't just shut up about it. He seems to do more harm than good by speaking, certainly if Celtic want to keep the kid.
