Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney is reportedly attracting interest from six clubs ahead of his expected departure from the Emirates.
The Scotland international was an instant hit at the Emirates upon his arrival from Celtic in 2019, where he would succeed the long-serving Nacho Monreal in defence.
Tierney impressed with his explosive displays on the left-hand side, although he was hampered by a succession of injuries and fell out of favour under Mikel Arteta in 2022.
The arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko saw Arteta start to favour an inverted full-back as opposed to a player of Tierney's profile, as the 27-year-old performs best on the overlap.
After one season as Zinchenko's backup, Tierney spent a mixed season on loan at Real Sociedad in 2023-24 before sustaining a serious hamstring injury while playing for Scotland at Euro 2024, which he is still recovering from.
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Aston Villa, Newcastle United among Tierney suitors?
As well as Zinchenko, Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jakub Kiwior and Myles Lewis-Skelly can also play at left-back for Arsenal, seemingly making Tierney surplus to requirements.
An exit this summer has therefore been expected to materialise for some time, but even though no concrete offers have arrived yet, Tierney is apparently not short of interested parties.
According to CaughtOffside - via The Mirror - a total of six clubs have expressed an interest in signing Tierney, including his former club Celtic, although they may be priced out of a deal.
Aston Villa and Newcastle United are said to lead the Premier League interest in the Scotsman, while Girona, Sevilla and Valencia are all pushing to bring Tierney to La Liga for 2024-25.
The left-back is also understood to be pushing for an Emirates exit in a bid to reignite his career, and he now only has two years left to run on his deal at the Emirates Stadium.
Could Tierney be handed a lifeline under Arteta?
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A fee of around £25m will apparently be demanded by Gunners chiefs if they are to sanction Tierney's exit, which would represent a small profit on the £22.9m they paid for his services in 2019.
However, the report adds that Arteta could still extend an olive branch to the 27-year-old, as he believes that Tierney could still have a key part to play in Arsenal's pursuit of Premier League and Champions League silverware.
The defender's injury record could also scupper his chances of leaving before the transfer window slams shut, and there is no timeframe on when he might be back from his latest problem.
Tierney has scored five goals and set up 13 more in 124 competitive matches for Arsenal across all competitions, winning one FA Cup and two Community Shields during his time in North London.
Mohamed Elneny, Emile Smith Rowe, Arthur Okonkwo and Cedric Soares have all left Arsenal on permanent deals this summer, while Kiwior, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Aaron Ramsdale could follow suit in the coming days.
Ben Knapton
