ANTHONY Ralston was unable to shed any light on Celtic’s alleged interest in bringing Kieran Tierney back to Parkhead as he sat down to speak to the media following training at Lennoxtown yesterday.
“It’s the first I’ve heard about it,” said the right-back immediately when he was asked about the flurry of fresh speculation linking the Glasgow club with a move for the Arsenal and Scotland defender.
However, Ralston, who had been expecting to be asked to reflect on his side’s Premier Sports Cup win over Rangers at Hampden last Sunday and look ahead to the William Hill Premiership match against Dundee United at Tannadice this weekend, did know one thing.
The defender is in no doubt the reaction in the Celtic squad will be entirely positive if Tierney does return to his spiritual home either during the January transfer window next month or at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
“I can’t really say much on it,” he said. “But he is obviously a top player. I know him well from his time here before and from being involved in Scotland camps with him. Regardless of what his own situation is, I am sure it will work out for him because he is a very good footballer. But everybody knows that.”
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Asked if he and his team mates would welcome Tierney back in to the fold, he said: “For sure, he is a terrific player. We know him very well. If that is something that comes to pass then of course. If he comes back then that will definitely be the case.”
Ralston and Tierney, who made his comeback from the knee injury he suffered in the Euro 2024 group game against Switzerland in Cologne in June when he started for Arsenal in their Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night, go way back.
The 26-year-old is better placed than most to talk about what the left-back, who departed for England in a Scottish record £25m transfer back 2019, would bring to the Celtic side if he is a target.
“We went through the academy together,” he said. “He was only a year older than me. So I would have first come across him when we were kids, when I was eight and he was nine. I went right the way through with him.
“Obviously, when you are kids you are always at different stages, always on different paths. He broke through before me, but I was training with the first team and I saw him getting involved in squads. You could tell he was going to go on and be a terrific player, which he has turned out to be.
“He has great technical ability on the ball, especially when he’s playing in that back three, he’s got pace and he’s got strength. He’s got an all-round game.”
“I don’t have a clue if he’s any trendier these days,” he said. “He’s just normal. That’s an important trait to have in this profession. You want to keep yourself as grounded as possible and he does a good job at that. With Callum McGregor and James Forrest to look up to, we’ve had good people here since we were young to show the way you are meant to be.”
Ralston has started for Scotland in their last nine competitive fixtures and is keen to be involved with his country when their World Cup qualifying campaign gets underway against either Denmark or Portugal away in June.
He is optimistic that Tierney can go from strength to strength in the coming months and force his way back into the national side as well as he knows that the presence of the 47-times capped full-back will boost their chances of cinching a place at Canada, Mexico and the United States in 2026.
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“It’s great to see him back from injury,” he said. “It’s never nice to see anyone injured, you wish everyone in the profession full health. I was involved in that Scotland game where he got injured and it was great to see him back playing again the other night.
“We’ve got Scotland qualifiers coming up so it’s a good sign. I hope everything goes well for him now. It would be good to have him back involved with the national team.”
Ralston, though, is far more concerned with helping Celtic maintain and increase their Premiership lead over a hectic festive period which will see them play four games in the space of 12 days and will culminate in a rematch with Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday, January 2.
“It’s an important spell,” he said. “We have come through such a busy period of games and the boys have done well in terms of grinding out results. It’s hard when you have such a busy schedule. When you are at a club of this magnitude there are no excuses or things you can put in the way of success.
“It doesn’t matter how many games you’ve got. We have a big squad and talented played to take on the challenge head on, whether it’s the Champions League, the league or the cups.
“We got in to each game aiming to get a result and for the most part that’s what we’ve managed to do. We have another busy spell but there’s no excuses, we’ll take it head on.
“Christmas is always busy, but if you come out the other side with results you are in a good place. The boys have all been back in and we’ve had good training sessions. We’re ready to go.”
