Kieran Tierney is one of the best full-backs in the world, according to his former Scotland team-mate Stephen O’Donnell.
The defender is poised to complete a permanent move from Arsenal, who are charging £10m for him after a loan spell at Real Sociedad. Up until a couple of years ago, his £25m move from Celtic had looked to be going smoothly, with the 27-year-old playing regularly when fit and even winning the club’s Player of the Year award.
But he was snubbed by manager Mikel Arteta and has been trying to get a regular spot elsewhere – something O’Donnell, who played alongside Tierney for the national team, doesn’t understand, and insists he is as good a player as anyone on the planet if he can just stay fit.
“If Kieran stays fit he will definitely be one of the best full-backs in the world. He’s a top player, a top guy and we’ll definitely be a better team if he plays. He’s got great qualities,” he said.
“I still feel a bit strange about what happened to him at Arsenal – I wasn’t there of course – but he was one of their players of the year the season before and then he went out on loan. [to Sociedad].
“He was incredible when he first broke through at Celtic and then to have moved and come so far is fantastic. He was rumoured to be going to Real Madrid at one point and if he could stay fit it might have been a ‘what if’ moment. But you can’t have everything. It’s really good to see him back and going to the Euros and hopefully we can see him do even more.”