Kieran Tierney's Celtic return 'not a factor' in Greg Taylor's move to Greece

Greg Taylor insists that Kieran Tierney’s return to Celtic never played a part in his decision to move to Greece.

The left-back ended a trophy-laden six-year spell at the Hoops by signing for PAOK on Monday.

It comes after Scotland teammate Tierney, who plays in the same position, returned to Parkhead from Arsenal this summer.

However, in an interview with Sky Sports, Taylor, who rejected a new deal at the Scottish champions, said it wouldn’t be fair to say that played a big part in his decision to move on.

But the 27-year-old, who won five league titles and six domestic cups with Celtic, did concede that going somewhere where he would continue to play regularly helped make his mind up.

He also revealed that the chance to play in front of the famously passionate Greek fans helped make his mind up when deciding to move away from a similar level of atmosphere in Glasgow.

He said: “It’s probably the toughest decision I have had to make in my career.

“When I left Kilmarnock back in 2019, it was that bit easier because I was progressing as a player and I wanted to go and try and play for the biggest team in Scotland.

“I think at that time there probably weren’t many who believed I would play as many games as I did, but the one person who really did was myself.

“I was lucky to go and play 200-plus games for Celtic, which was unbelievable.

“So it wasn’t an easy decision to leave, and there were a million things to weigh up, but I just felt it was the right time to do it.”

It has been widely speculated that Tierney is expected to be Brendan Rodgers’ first-choice left-back after re-joining his boyhood club.

But when asked if that was the main factor in his decision to leave, Taylor said: “I would certainly not say that’s fair.

“I think there’s been competition for my place at Celtic in the whole six years I was there, and it was not something I ever shirked from.

“I loved that, it drove me on, it helped me find my best level so, no, I wouldn’t say it was particularly Kieran coming back. It was just that I felt that it was probably the right time for me to try something different.”

The Scotland international admitted he had to give consideration to the fact he was walking away from the prospect of Champions League football and the “intense” atmosphere at Celtic Park, particularly in games against Rangers.

He said: “I think in Greece that’s one thing that was attractive about going to play was you’ve got those atmospheres, that intensity in the games, there are many big clubs in the league that are all competing for the title.

“That was something that I had to really think about, because if I didn’t have that in the next move, I think I would have really missed that intensity for sure.”

Taylor revealed he spoke to former England and Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart, who had a spell at Torino in 2016/17, before making a move that is taking him “right out of my comfort zone”.

“You obviously have the people you trust around you, and guys like Joe Hart, someone I really trust, and I’ve spoken to him quite a bit over the summer.

“He was probably the one I spoke to most on it. He’d experienced something abroad and spoke really highly of it with a young family, so he was one that I definitely lent on a wee bit.”