Mikel Arteta makes brutal final transfer decision on £25 million Arsenal star

Kieran Tierney may have played his last game for Arsenal after the club opted against taking up an option to extend is contract.

The Scotland international joined the Gunners from Celtic five years ago and quickly established himself as a firm fans’ favourite under Unai Emery.

Tierney’s Arsenal career has, however, been heavily plagued by injuries to the extent that he was deemed surplus to requirements last season and loaned out to Real Sociedad.

At his peak, the 27-year-old was considered a potential future captain but he has steadily slipped down Arteta’s pecking order to the extent whereby teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly has been used as a makeshift left-back in recent weeks.

Tierney’s current deal was set to expire in the summer but Arsenal had the option to extend by a further 12 months but the date by which a decision had to be made on that has now passed.

A return to Celtic is now on the cards, according to the Scottish Sun, and it remains to be seen whether or not Tierney is allowed to depart when the transfer window opens in January or he remains at Arsenal until the end of the current campaign.

Arteta’s left-back options are severely restricted at present owing to the injuries sustained by Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiroy Tomiyasu.

Ben White, meanwhile, who usually operates on the opposite flank underwent knee surgery in November, while Jurrien Timber is, himself, suffered a serious knee injury that ruled him out for the whole of last season.

Tierney did make an encouraging comeback in last night’s 3-2 Carabao Cup quarter final win over Crystal Palace, playing 69 minutes before he was forced off with cramp.

‘He’s playing to his strengths, that’s something that we have to continue to learn because they give you a lot of information, they tell you not sometimes with their words but with a lot of information, where they feel more comfortable and certainly there is a much better fit for him,’ said Arteta of Tierney’s performance last night.

Arsenal will discover their semi final opponents this evening after they came from behind to beat Palace thanks to a second half Gabriel Jesus hat-trick.

‘He brings something, he has that quality, he has a way of creating, generating situations that is quite unique, Gabby at that level obviously is a big asset,’ said Arteta of his striker who had gone a year without scoring a goal at the Emirates Stadium before three arrived almost at once.

‘It’s now about consistency, so now obviously this is a moment of a spark that will give him so much confidence not only to him but to the team as well, now we can rely on him to change those games and now we need to take it, and give him more games, give him chances because when a player is in that moment it’s important to continue to do that.’