SCOTT BROWN remembers how tough it was for Kieran Tierney to leave Celtic.
Now he would love to see the Hoops make it easy for him to return.
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Broony became good pals with the Scotland defender at Celts and knew how hard it was for him to leave and join Arsenal in 2019.
Four years on and Tierney’s future is up for grabs after the Gunners let him join Real Sociedad on loan.
Former mentor Broony said: “I would love to see him back at Celtic.
“He’s loved by all the fans and it’s such a huge club for him.
“It was a hard decision for him to leave because Celtic means so much to him.
“But at the same time he has been away for that long now and experienced different things that he maybe wants to experience other things now.
“There are a lot of clubs in England who would take him.
“In fact, there are clubs all over the world who would take him, to be perfectly honest.
“But Celtic have that pull over him, which is a great thing.
“And I would love to see it happen one day — but you never know.
“Arsenal was the right move at the right time, and to the right club.
“He will have learned a lot working with Mikel Arteta, even though he has maybe not played as much.
“It will have been something totally different going over to Spain.
“Kieran has now experienced a lot but wherever he has gone he has been a top pro.
“You can see all the fans love him no matter where he goes.”
Brown reckons it’s also great news for Scotland that Tierney has returned to action after a hamstring injury.
He added: “It’s been a bad one on his hammy.
“But that’s him back in now and the wee man is unbelievable. He’s got great attributes.
“He’s got that desire to get back into the squad and he’ll fight anybody.
“You can see why Arsenal wanted him to go down there and why Real Sociedad wanted him to go to Spain.
“He is a top quality player.
“He does it at Champions League level, at the top in England and now the top flight in Spain. He’s only going to get better with the more experience that he gets as well.
“He’ll get to know his body as he gets older too.
“But he’s got so much to offer Scotland and future clubs, wherever he ends up.”
Broony is thrilled that Scotland have qualified for back-to-back Euros and can’t wait for next summer’s finals in Germany.
He added: “I’ll maybe get a campervan and go!
“As a fan I’d like to go over but I might do telly, I might do something else. I’d just like to go and experience what it’s like at a major finals.
“I would have liked to have qualified, but I didn’t do it. It’s not something I’m going to lose any sleep over.
“We just didn’t have the squad to kick on. If we had any injuries we really did struggle.
“We also didn’t have the pace that the centre-backs have now at the back.
“This Scotland team have got top quality competition in all areas.
“You can take a couple of lads off and bring more Premier League players on or top Celtic and Rangers players on.
“They probably didn’t have that option in the past. It is a good bunch of lads who are coming through as well.
“Steve Clarke is now going to find it hard to pick a 23-man squad.
“We have so many good midfield players in there, it’s good to watch.
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“I know big Scotty McTominay has played at the back but for me he has to play in the middle of the park.
“He has so much energy and scores so many goals. Him and John McGinn going forward have been unbelievable.”