When Jurrien Timber was injured, unexpected changes created a turning point to help Mikel Arteta have more choices.
Kieran Tierney is one of the players on Arsenal’s list of liquidations this summer. The 26-year-old has lost his place at Arsenal over the past 12 months after Oleksandr ZInchenko arrived at the Emirates from Manchester City in the summer of 2022.
Tierney made 36 appearances in all competitions last season, although only 15 of those were starting. Jurrien Timber’s £34.2m transfer from Ajax further cast doubt on the future of the Scotland star, who is of interest to many European clubs at the moment.
Newcastle United is said to have been closely monitoring the situation of the player born in 1997 for some time. A return to Celtic has also been revealed by the media. In addition, the team playing in La Liga Real Sociedad is very interested in borrowing Tierney but Arsenal seems to only want to sell the player. That made the negotiation process between the English and Spanish clubs unsuccessful.
Rumors regarding Tierney’s move to Spain cooled somewhat last week, with Sociedad now pursuing a move for Tottenham left-back Sergio Reguilon. Not stopping there, Tierney’s possibility of a move to Tyneside has also disappeared as Newcastle United agree a deal worth around £28m for young Chelsea player Lewis Hall.
The 18-year-old made his first-team debut for the Blues last season but is considered only the fourth choice under Mauricio Pochettino, behind Ben Chilwell, Marc Cucurella and Ian Maatsen. Chick has been very busy in the transfer market having signed Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and Tivo Livramento. And head coach Eddie Howe revealed that the arrival of Hall will be the last deal at the club this summer.
The unexpected move of Newcastle and Sociedad clearly created a big turning point for Tierney. From being able to get rid of the defender in 1996, Arsenal can no longer find a partner who wants the former Celtic player on the negotiating table. That is likely to help the Scottish star continue to stick with the Emirates Stadium.
In fact, this could be a good thing for the London representative. Jurrien Timber ‘s ACL ligament injury means Tierney is likely to play an important role at Arsenal at left-back, even though he’s not Arteta’s preferred type of defender. In the context of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Zinchenko being quite sensitive to injuries, Tierney’s stay at Arsenal will help the Spanish leader have more options in a season when the Gunners return to the Champions League.
With less than two weeks to go before the summer transfer window closes, Tierney is getting closer to sticking with Arsenal for another season. One thing is beyond the calculation of the Premier League runner-up, but it is not necessarily a bad move.