Kieran Tierney aims to keep Celtic at Premiership summit following return from Arsenal

Kieran Tierney says he is aiming to help Celtic maintain their place at the top of Scottish football following his return to his boyhood club.

The Scotland international, who re-joined Brendan Rodgers’ side earlier in the summer following a six-year spell with English Premier League side Arsenal, was speaking to the media for the first time since moving back north on Friday.

He is now preparing for his first game back at Parkhead when the Hoops take on Newcastle United in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.

He said: “My personal and collective aims are just the same. It’s to keep Celtic as successful as possible and maintain our place at the top, and that’s the objective.

“I’ll probably take on more of an experienced player role. When I left, I was 21/22, and now I come back at 28 years old with a lot more experience than I had. There are now a lot more younger boys on the team, who I will help along the way if I can.

“I don’t think I have anything to prove to anyone, I know how hard I work on myself, on my body, on my recovery, and being as ready as I can be for games. So I’m not here to prove anything other than doing my best for Celtic and see where that goes.”

The 28-year-old signed a pre-contract agreement in January to return to the Scottish champions once his time at the Gunners had come to an end.

And he insists his desire to return made negotiations pretty straight forward and “probably the easiest signing Celtic have ever made”.

He said: “It was probably the easiest signing Celtic have ever made, and the easiest decision I have had to make as well. When I knew I was going to be a free-agent, the talks started in January and once we found it wouldn’t be happening then I knew would be first thing in the summer.”

During his first spell at Celtic he won four Premiership titles, two League Cups and two Scottish Cups.

He was part of the squad that won a historic treble treble before departing for London in 2019.

At Arsenal he won the FA Cup and Community Shield and was part of the side that reached the Champions League semi-final and finished second in the Premier League last season.