Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was probed on the future of Kieran Tierney, insisting the defender deserves to play a "big role" in his squad.
Tierney, who has been linked with a sensational January transfer return to Celtic, had been sidelined since coming off injured an hour into Scotland's Euro 2024 match against Switzerland on June 19.
Tierney spent the entire 2023/24 season on-loan at Real Sociedad, with the chances of him coming back to north London as a regular appearing bleak prior to his injury.
"At the moment he’s here with us," Arteta said at his press conference on Friday afternoon. "I wouldn’t play a player that is thinking about leaving or is not committed to us, so he’s fully committed.
"He’s enjoying playing after a long period again with a really tough injury, so live the moment. He’s a big part of the squad now, he deserves to be in the squad and played really well after such a long time, so that’s the only thing I can say."
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Asked to provide clarity on the Scotland internationalists stance on remaining at the Emirates Stadium, Arteta continued: "He hasn’t come to me and said ‘I want to move.’
"In the past if we have any doubts he came to me and said ‘I think it’s my time to move’ and this hasn’t been the case yet."
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers addressed the rumours himself but remained coy, claiming Tierney is a player he knows "really well", while admitting that he wants to bolster his squad when the transfer window opens.
"On Tuesday I flew to Dublin to have a meeting with Dermot [Desmond], just talking about January. We are always looking forward," Rodgers said.
"We'll always be linked with top players and especially players that are one of us. Kieran was an instrumental part of a really, really successful period when I was here.
"His talents then took him to another challenge but we'll be linked with lots of names and with Kieran naturally because of his situation. But we'll only talk about a player once he's signed."
Tierney has made 125 first team appearances for Arsenal since arriving at the English Premier League giants in August 2019.
