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Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has claimed that Arsenal's 'derisory' offer of £15m for full-back Kieran Tierney should be seen as an insult to both the Scottish Premier League and the player himself.

The Gunners saw their opening bid of £15m knocked back by the Scottish Champions, but are determined to get their man, with the latest reports from the Sunday Post suggesting that Unai Emery has made an offer close to the club's asking price of £25m.

Tierney has emerged as one of Arsenal's top targets this summer, but Sutton is not happy with the disparity in fees between Scottish and English football.

"Kieran Tierney should be insulted by Arsenal’s bids for him," the 46-year-old wrote in his Daily Record column. "Celtic and Scottish football should also be seeing disrespect in what the Gunners are offering.

"Yet again I’m having the same argument I’ve been having year-on-year since Virgil Van Dijk was inexplicably allowed to leave Celtic for a fee of £13million in the summer of 2015.

"Nothing has changed. English clubs believed then they could get away with transfer market murder and they still do.

(Image: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

"Fair enough all clubs start low in a bidding process but £15m for Tierney smacks of disgusting contempt. Not just for Celtic and Scottish football but for the boy.

"If I were Tierney I would be wondering if they really rated me at all given the figures which are flying around south of the border."

The once capped former England man uses examples such as the £50m paid by Manchester United for Aaron wan Bissaka and the reported £70m asking price that Leicester City have put on left-back Ben Chilwell's head as example as to why Arsenal should be offering at least £20m more for the Scotland international.

"Don’t get me wrong here. I completely understand that there is a portion which gets taken off a price when buying a player from Scotland," he added.

"Obviously, due to Celtic’s position of playing in the Scottish Premiership, they cannot realistically expect to get the £50m Wan-Bissaka has fetched for Crystal Palace.

"But at the same time they should not be having to accept derisory offers such as £15m from Arsenal for a player who is of equal ability.

"Whatever way you look at it and however you see the level of the Scottish league, it’s nigh-on impossible to get to a final figure of £15m.

"It’s mocking Scottish football. It’s scornful to Celtic and disrespectful to the player.

"There is a halfway house here. Arsenal think they can get Tierney for around £20m. Wan Bissaka has gone for £50m.

"That means the meet in the middle figure should be at the £35m mark."

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