Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has said that the club had no choice in selling left-back Kieran Tierney in the summer after his head was turned by Arsenal.

The Hoops sold the defender for £25m back in August, with many fans believing that the Scottish international had been sold on the cheap. When asked about the transfer at today’s AGM, Lawwell claimed the club had to get as much money as they could after the player made it known he wanted to leave:

“Celtic is not a selling club, if you get a player like Kieran (Tierney) the attraction of a team like Arsenal becomes too much. As much as we wanted him to stay, it’s our job is to get the most money. I don’t believe Tierney was sold cheaply.”

Considering a young fullback like Aaron Wan-Bissaka was sold to Manchester United for around double Tierney’s sale price, it does indicate that Celtic were shortchanged.

There is an argument that selling a player in Scotland will inevitably have a lower value than a Premier League player, but considering the Hoops have managed to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Europa League, the argument around the standard of football doesn’t really hold up.