John Kennedy, Celtic’s assistant coach, believes that Kieran Tierney could follow in the footsteps of club legend Paul McStay and be a one-man club.

Tierney, a product of the club’s youth academy, was named captain this week for the 5-0 League Cup win over Kilmarnock and while Arsenal have looked at Tierney, Kennedy believes that he could remain at Celtic for the duration of his career.

“He could go and play in the top four in the Premier League no problem,” said Kennedy. I’ve no issue with that. It also wouldn’t surprise me if KT became the Paul McStay of his generation. He could go and play at a very high level. Would he stay at Celtic for all his career? You never know. It wouldn’t surprise me.”

Read more: Come back to Celtic and keep improving, John Kennedy tells Patrick Roberts

A boyhood Celtic fan who wears his heart on his sleeve, Tierney has already written his name into the folklore of the club with his desire to get to Hampden to lift the Scottish Cup in May.

Having required stitches and the removal of a tooth after a nasty collision with Jayden Stockley, Tierney hotfooted it through the departing Aberdeen fan in the Hampden car park when security wouldn’t let his vehicle through.

He was last to get his hands on the Cup as Celtic completed the Treble for only the fourth time in their history but Kennedy was at pains to insist that his dedication for the club is not only for the times when his emotion is enjoyed by an appreciative audience.

“The biggest things he’s got going for him is his character and his personality,” said Kennedy. “He’s one, that if you are going to set an example for young players, he’s right up there with the likes of Scott Brown in terms of how he conducts himself, how he trains and how he plays. He never takes a day off. He’s always out there on the training pitch giving everything he’s got. He’s still got a bit to go in terms of learning the game and fine tuning some of the things in his performances.

Read more: Come back to Celtic and keep improving, John Kennedy tells Patrick Roberts

“It is hard to put a price on him. In terms of putting a value on him, it’s hard to do that. In terms of what he offers us, he’s become a really big player for us.

“He got the honour of being captain there in midweek and it was thoroughly deserved. It’s not just a token gesture because the fans like him. It’s because of what he does day in and day out and what he’s done in the past two years – the performances he puts in and the leadership he shows for such a young player.”

Meanwhile, Shaun Maloney has been confirmed as an under-20 coach with Celtic after the player decided against a final chapter of his career with Aberdeen.

The player has hung up his boots to concentrate on a coaching career with Kennedy delighted to hook up with his former team-mate again.

“Shaun is a thinker,” said Kennedy. “He is an intelligent boy and Derek McInnes is on record as saying Shaun was honest enough to say that he might not be able to put in the performances that Aberdeen would expect.

“We all know what he brings and it’s a big plus for everybody. It’s good to have someone fresh with that attacking mindset.

Read more: Come back to Celtic and keep improving, John Kennedy tells Patrick Roberts

“Like me, Shaun knows the pathway here. At other clubs young players might get in quicker but here you have to patient but you need to be ready to go at any time.

“So he’s got thy experience and he knows the challenges and pressures of stepping into the Celtic first team from a young age.

“He’s got all the experiences having played in England too and won the FA Cup down there., been in America and worked under a number of different managers,

“The manager met him and was very impressed by him.

“You couldn’t get a more model pro and all the Scottish guys in the first team respect him too as they know him from the international set up.”