Report: Newcastle considering £50M Kieran Tierney bid

Eddie Howe and Newcastle are contemplating a £50M transfer bid for Arsenal left back Kieran Tierney, per onlinegooner.com. It’s clear that the Saudi Public Investment Fund that bought Newcastle last fall are going to spend on the team. They did in January. They’re going to spend this summer, too.

The idea of selling Tierney, especially for that amount, has some appeal. He’s played just 56% of Arsenal’s matches since he joined the club and has struggled to stay healthy, much to the Gunners’ detriment. The side are clearly significantly diminished without him in the lineup. And while it isn’t his fault that he’s gotten hurt, Tierney’s injuries have come at particularly unfortunate (and important) moments in the season. Accepting what feels like an overpayment for an injury-prone player and investing it in a durable player of similar quality isn’t the worst idea in the world.

None of that analysis really matters, however, because I don’t buy this rumor at all. Well, Eddie Howe may be contemplating it, but it doesn’t matter. Arsenal are not going to sell Kieran Tierney. Certainly not to a Premier League team trying to vault themselves into the Champions League conversation. And that’s before you get to the source of the rumor, the Gooner Fanzine. I’m sure they’re lovely folks. But I’d literally never heard of them before today in the transfer rumor arena.

Regardless, at this stage, I think that all the “Newcastle are in for [player]” rumors are mostly the club trying to flex their financial muscle. They want clubs to know they can and will outspend them to get the players they want. It’s kind of an odd way to try to keep transfer prices down — don’t test us, we will outbid you, so don’t even start the bidding war. It could also be a straight power play — we’ve got more money than God and we don’t care.

And any agent with half a brain is going to “leak” to their buddies in the media that Newcastle are interested in their client. That’s just good sense. So I get the feeling we’re going to see Newcastle’s name thrown around a bunch this summer.

To reiterate: Kieran Tierney ain’t going anywhere. He’ll be at Arsenal next year.