Birthday Boys- Kieran Tierney and Martin Braithwaite

In today’s edition of the Birthday Boys we will explore the career’s of Arsenal full-back Kieran Tierney and FC Barcelona striker Martin Braithwaite.

Kieran Tierney

The Scotsman turns 23 today and is a very exciting player but injuries have hampered his game time in recent years.

He started his youth career in Glasgow for Celtic making his way up from the youth team into the senior team and signing his professional contract for the Scottish club in January 2016.

He would get two games before signing his professional contract in the 14/15 season. 33 appearances in the 15/16 season saw Tierney become a hot prospect as he would assist eight times that season and score once from left-back.

40 appearances in the 16/17 season saw the Scottish full-back gain valuable experience and managed to grab 12 assists that season in all competitions.

The full-back appeared in a whopping 55 appearances for Celtic in all competitions in the 17/18 season and that season may have been tough going on the 20-year-old left-back.

He featured 40 times for Celtic last season but was hit with two injuries that season with a serious hip injury keeping him sidelined.

In the summer of 2019, Arsenal signed the full-back from Celtic for £24 million. He’s only managed 11 appearances for the Gunners as he battled with a hip injury and then a shoulder injury as the Scottish player continues to fight his ongoing injury problems.

He has featured 12 times for the Scottish national team with his debut coming in March 2016 as he battles with Andy Robertson for the number one left-back for Scotland.

Trophy wise he has managed to be Scottish champion five times, Scottish Cup winner three times and Scottish League Cup winner three times.

Martin Braithwaite

The Danish striker turns 29 today and is currently playing for Barcelona.

The Dane started his senior career at Esbjerg fB after he progressed from the U19’s in 2009.

His contributions would pick up in the 12/13 season with 38 appearances he would score 11 goals and assist four times.

After three goals in four games in the Danish Superliga he was snapped up by Toulouse in August 2013 for £2 million. His first season in France would see him score eight goals and assist on eight ocassions in 36 appearances.

His most fruitful campaign in France was the 15/16 campaign where he scored 14 goals in 41 appearances for the Ligue 1 side.

After 12 goals in the 16/17 campaign, Middlesborough were on the lookout for a striker and signed the Danish international from Toulouse for £10 million in the summer of 2017.

Six goals in 21 appearances for the Boro saw them offload the Dane back to France this time to Bordeaux on loan in January 2018 until the end of the season.

He did not regain his feet in France as he made 14 appearances and was only able to score four goals and provide three assists in that time period.

He would return to England at the end of the season and was given another chance by the club to show his worth. 19 appearances in the first half of the 18/19 campaign saw the striker offloaded again as he only managed three goals.

Leganes welcome the striker in January 2019 on loan from Middlesborough as he would appear 21 times for the club that season managing to score five goals and assist seven times.

In the summer of 2019, Leganes would acquire the permanent services of the striker as they paid Middlesborough £4.5 million for the player.

27 appearances for the La Liga side in the 19/20 and eight goals convinced FC Barcelona to snatch Braithwaite off of Leganes as they endured injury worries. He’s only managed three appearances for the Catalan side after signing in February 2020 for £15 million.

Internationally, he has managed 39 appearances for the Danish national team scoring seven goals and participated in the 2018 World Cup.

He’s only won one trophy in his career so far which was the Danish Cup winner with Esbjerg fB in the 12/13 season.