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In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Arsenal striker John Hartson has said that the £25m fee paid by the Gunners for Kieran Tierney sends out a message to other Premier League clubs wishing to sign top players from the SPFL.
Tierney, 22, left Celtic to join the north London outfit on transfer deadline day in what proved to be a record deal. No player in Scotland’s top tier has ever been sold for a higher price.
And Hartson is of the opinion that Premier League clubs will now think twice before attempting to purchase the top talent from north of the border on the cheap.
He said, “When you see Southampton have previously signed van Dijk for £12m, Forster for £10m and Wanyama for £8m, it highlights the view that the SPFL is seen as a lesser league in the eyes of the Premier League.
“I mean, it would cost you £150m now to sign Virgil van Dijk.
“So Celtic getting £25m for Kieran Tierney is finally sending out a message and a warning that the Premier League clubs or anyone can’t buy the SPFL’s best players on the cheap.”
The price the Scottish champions were able to recover for the left-back is indeed a victory, despite losing one of their star players. At the end of the day, the lack of competition in the SPFL does mean that the outstanding performers will look to use it as a stepping stone onto a higher platform.
However, that does not mean that Celtic and the other leading sides in the country need to be bullied into parting ways with their players. It is much to the credit of Neil Lennon and co that they held firm when Arsenal first offered £15m and then £25m in an instalment-based deal that wasn’t to their liking.
Whatever you think about Scottish football, there are clearly a number of players playing their football beyond Hadrian’s Wall that have more than enough quality to make it in the Premier League or other top divisions across Europe.
Van Dijk, Forster and Wanyama are the obvious examples, but there are others, such as John McGinn, who joined Aston Villa from Hibernian in 2018, who have been successful since making the move to England.
Tierney’s switch, therefore, indicates that the landscape may be changing. No longer will the Premier League be able to pickpocket Scottish clubs, as they have so often done in the past.
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