Mikel Arteta responds to Kieran Tierney transfer speculation amid Celtic links | OneFootball

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta dismissed talk of an impending exit for Kieran Tierney as rumours over a return to Celtic grow.

Tierney will become a free agent when his contract expires this summer, leaving the January transfer window as the last available time for Arsenal to receive a transfer fee for the 27-year-old left-back. Injuries have plagued Tierney's career and limited his impact at Real Sociedad during a loan spell last season.

The Scotland international has only made one appearance for the Gunners this term - starting in the midweek Carabao Cup victory over Crystal Palace. Reports emerged this week claiming that Arsenal had decided not to trigger the one-year extension clause in his contract, prompting speculation over a reunion with his boyhood club, Celtic.

Arteta was quizzed about Tierney's future ahead of Arsenal's trip to Palace's Selhurst Park on Saturday. "At the moment he's here with us," the Spanish boss insisted. "I wouldn't play a player that is thinking about leaving or is not committed to us.

Kieran Tierney made his first appearance of the season against Crystal Palace this week / Marc Atkins/GettyImages

"He's fully committed, he's enjoying things after a long period again with a really tough injury. Live the moment. He's a big part of the squad now. He deserves to be in the squad, he played really well the other day after such a long time. That's the only thing I can say."

The Arsenal manager added that Tierney had not brought up the topic of a transfer away, but revealed in the process that the Scot has previously pushed for an exit.

"He hasn't come to me and said, 'I want to move,'" Arteta noted. "When in the past we had any doubts, he came to me and said, 'I think it's my time to move.' This hasn't been the case yet."

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers, who spent three years working with Tierney in Glasgow, refused to be drawn in by the rumours. "We will never speak about a player, especially a young player who is at another club," the Northern Irish manager bluntly retorted this week.