Brendan Rodgers insists "never say never" with regard to a sensational Celtic return for Kieran Tierney.
The Arsenal left-back is the subject of some serious transfer speculation this summer, with his future growing uncertain at The Emirates.
The Scotland international has never shied away from his desire to make a comeback in a Hoops shirt one day, having left for the Gunners in 2019 for a fee of around £25million.
The 25-year-old has lost his starting place under Mikel Arteta, though, with his game time, particularly in the Premier League, now fairly limited.
Newcastle and Aston Villa are believed to be in the frame for Tierney this summer. Celtic have been touted as making a loan bid for the defender.
And while Rodgers admits Celtic would struggle with such clubs in terms of finances, the Irishman has refused to rule out a move.
Rodgers said: “There have been lots of players linked with here with me coming back. All I know is Kieran is like myself – we loved our time here. When I spoke to him down the road in the Premier League, every time we met up all we talked about was Celtic.
"He’s a Celtic man but he’s at a fantastic club in Arsenal. You can just never say never in football. Who knows what might happen?
“We wouldn’t be able to buy Kieran for £25m-£30m, that’s for sure, or the figures I see bandied about. I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t be able to pay the huge salary he’s on. However, one can never tell.
“What I would say is we have a couple of really good left-backs here.
“I have been really impressed with young Greg. Watching him come in and settling into Celtic, he’s been excellent. Alexandro Bernabei is still young and adapting, but I’ve liked those two over the course of pre-season.
“Kieran has an incredible history with the club. He was a massive part of my time here, so there will always be that link.”
Celtic are working hard to recruit some new bodies ahead of the new campaign.
But the boss also admitted that he's looking to cut his squad at the same time.
Rodgers added: “We will be looking to trim the squad. That will be the natural process. I’ve already spoken to a couple of players and I’m sure I will do over the course of pre-season."
