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Celtic defender Kieran Tierney signs new contract with champions

Celtic have secured promising left-back Kieran Tierney on a five-year contract, the Scottish champions have announced.

The likes of Liverpool and Arsenal had been linked with the 19-year-old after his extraordinary breakthrough season in the Celtic first team.

But new manager Brendan Rodgers has moved quickly to tie the Scotland international to a longer deal.

Tierney made 34 appearances last season, displacing Emilio Izaguirre as first choice left-back, and made his Scotland debut against Denmark in March, bypassing the under-21s.

Rodgers this week predicted Tierney would be a "top player" as he revealed Celtic were aiming to extend his contract.

Tierney previously signed a new deal in August which tied him to the club until 2019.

"I'm delighted to be here," he said. "For me, my future is only here just now.

"You get people asking you if you're staying but I didn't have much doubt in my mind."

On Rodgers' influence, Tierney said: "He spoke to me after the first day of training and I've signed now so it has happened so quickly, I'm delighted.

"As a Celtic fan it's not hard to persuade me to sign a five-year deal.

"The manager didn't need to sell it much. I wasn't thinking about leaving at all. He said we'd get a contract in place and that's what he did.

"It's exactly what you want, and now it's signed, I can just focus on football."

Tierney displaced Emilio Izaguirre as first-choice left-back last year, and made his Scotland debut against Denmark in March, bypassing the under-21s.

"The word I used last season was 'crazy' and it's still crazy now," said the teenager, who was born on the Isle of Man but brought up in Lanarkshire.

"I only signed a four-year deal 10 or 11 months ago so to sign a new deal is great.

"You try to think about it but it's still mad and it's still hard to take in, but this season I just hope I can do the same.

"Everybody's expectations will be really high this year but as a football player at Celtic, you need to deal with that and I hope I can.

"Everyone needs to prove themselves. [Rodgers] said that it's a fresh start for everybody, if you didn't play last year you will still get the same chance as everyone who did."

Tierney won a league winners' medal in his debut season and excelled in an otherwise disappointing Europa League campaign for the club, but he has loftier targets this term.

"We want to get Champions League," he said. "We've not been in the Champions League the last two years and that's what everyone is aiming for."

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