Celtic are in line for a cash windfall if former star Kieran Tierney joins Real Madrid in a money-spinning switch this summer.
The 24-year-old has turned heads with Arsenal since a £25m transfer in 2019, and his form in the English Premier League has put him on the radar of one of the world's biggest clubs.
And it's set to be good news for Premiership leaders Celtic, who retain a 15 per cent sell-on fee in a player who would likely cost in excess of £50m. That would net his former club a fee of around £7.5m.
It would be another potential financial boost from player trading for the Parkhead side who announced profits of £27.6m on Friday, a figure underpinned by the sales of Odsonne Edouard and Kris Ajer.
Several reports in Spain state Tierney is on Madrid 's watch list and he's being targeted to challenge the incumbent Ferland Mendy for game time.
Tierney is adored by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and signed a bumper new deal last year to remain in north London until 2026.
However, the lure of Los Blancos could proved hard to resist, with Kylian Mbappe set to usher in a new era of Galacticos this summer.
And Tierney certainly has an admirer in the Madrid dugout, with Carlo Ancelotti namechecking the rampaging left-back while he was still at Celtic.
Then Napoli boss made no secret of his interest, or what has been described in Spain as "infatuation" in a player he personally identified as the prototype left-sided player in his system.
Speaking weeks before Tierney joined Arsenal in 20019, he said: “Am I aware of Kieran Tierney?
“I know him and he is a really good player. He is a really good young left back. But he is a Celtic player.
“We are looking for a lot of players for this coming season, but he is a Celtic player and we have two good left backs.
"But honestly I can say he is a really good player.”
Ancelotti is old school in the sense he sees no issue with naming the players he truly rates, it's been a similar case with Ben White and Leeds United's all-action midfielder Kalvin Phillips.
And Tierney has reportedly been further bumped up with his defensive record in terms of fouls and lack of yellow cards also appealing to the Italian boss, reports Defensas Central.
Madrid's current boss is a fan and there's a good chance he is there for the coming seasons with Florentino Perez extremely close to the man who delivered Champions League glory in 2014.
