Rodgers confirms pre-contract deal for Tierney … but admits he wants to bring Arsenal star back on loan before transfer window shuts

Brendan Rodgers has admitted that Celtic hope to wrap up a deal to sign Kieran Tierney from Arsenal before the window shuts.

The Parkhead club have agreed the terms of a pre-contract agreement, kicking in this summer.

Confirming that left-back Alex Valle has cut short his loan deal from Barcelona to sign for Serie A side Como, Rodgers wants to seal Tierney’s return on loan before a permanent deal kicks in.

Arsenal are prepared to sell Oleksandr Zinchenko to Atletico Madrid and, if the Ukrainian leaves for big money, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta would prefer to hold on to the 27-year-old as cover.

However, speaking ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Aston Villa in Birmingham, Rodgers expressed hope that an opportunity for a quicker reunion with Tierney might open up in the final days of the winter transfer window.

‘Ideally, it would,’ said the Celtic manager. ‘But at this moment he’s still an Arsenal player. So I think everyone would agree that (the move) will definitely take place in the summer. If we can do it beforehand, then great.

‘I don’t know. I think that we’d prepared that for the summer. And I don’t want to speak too much on it, with the greatest respect, because he’s not a Celtic player here now with us.

‘But if we were able to do it, of course we would like to do that. But that’s out of our control at this moment in time.’

Rodgers confirmed that on-loan left back Valle had played his last game for Celtic. The Barcelona player is heading for Como on loan until the end of the season.

‘Alex won’t play again, sadly. He’s in Barcelona now at the moment,’ he said.

‘And he will probably then move on to another team.

‘So, again, he’s another young player that’s contributed really well for us.

‘He made nearly 20 appearances for us. He played in some very important games.

‘He made his Champions League debut. Especially in Atalanta, he was fantastic. He played in really important games. So, we’re disappointed that he’s left. But we have to move on.’

Celtic have already completed some business this week, selling Kyogo Furuhashi to Rennes for £10million – while bringing Portuguese winger Jota back from the French club for £7.6m.

Kyogo’s departure, allied to Daizen Maeda’s suspension, leaves Rodgers short of attacking options at Villa Park.

Currently looking at Brondby striker Mathias Kvistgaarden, he denied knowledge of a report claiming Celtic had tendered a bid for Norwegian winger Sondre Orjasaeter.

Rodgers, who wants a replacement for fans’ favourite Kyogo before Monday, added: ‘Clearly, he (Kyogo) has been a real iconic player for the club,’ he said.

‘He’s done absolutely brilliantly in his time here.

‘So, yes, it’s about getting a replacement. I think that’s made clear.

‘He’s a player that’s done a great job. But he probably wanted to leave.

‘We have to move on from that and we have to look to the next player to come in.’

Asked if he was confident of signing a new striker in the final days, Rodgers added: ‘Yes. There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes.

‘‘Clearly, we wouldn’t have wanted to have sold (Furuhashi), certainly not at this point.

‘But he made it clear he wanted to move and, when that’s the case, then we have to find the best solution for the club.

‘And the club will work very hard and we’ll look to get an able replacement.’

Celtic face Villa without key defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, the American international failing to travel after suffering an ailment.

Predicting the player will return to fitness in time for Sunday’s trip to Motherwell, Rodgers challenged others to step up to the plate.

‘We’ve got other players that can come in and it’s an opportunity for them to ensure they can perform at this level.

‘And that’s what it’s about as a Celtic player.

‘You want to come and play in these great arenas against fantastic teams.

‘And between now and the end of the market, we hope that we can reinforce the squad and keep the squad improving.

‘The players, they’ve been fantastic. They’ve stayed with the idea, they’ve worked very, very hard.

‘And what we set out to do, which was to firstly arrive in the play-offs, the players have done that, so it’s great.

‘But our job’s not complete in this series of eight games.

‘We come here to a great venue, against a fantastic team, but we want to come and play to the level that we know we can do.’