Kieran Tierney has been one of the mainstays of the Arsenal squad ever since his arrival from Celtic in 2019.
The Scot has witnessed the change that saw Unai Emery depart and the ruthless Mikel Arteta appointed as Arsenal head coach. Despite the Spaniard’s cutthroat approach to team management and many players brought in prior to his arrival gone, Tierney has always been part of Arteta’s setup.
This is unsurprising considering the 24-year-old embodies the characteristics that Arteta looks for in every player. Consistency, motivation and discipline are all present in his profile. Add in the leadership qualities of Keiran Tierney and the silhouette of Arteta’s perfect performer is obvious.
A player of these traits however is not one which will quietly be allowed to get on with their business.
The personality and performances from Tierney were always sure to draw interest from outside of the club and despite signing a new deal last year, Real Madrid have been credited with a liking of the player, or more specifically their manager.
Italian outlet Calciomercato claims that the interest of Carlo Ancelotti from his time as Napoli head coach has persisted and the Real Madrid boss now wants to bring Tierney to the Bernabeu.
Currently, Real Madrid have France international Ferland Mendy in the left-back role with the experience of Marcelo as back-up.
Tierney would not be guaranteed a starting spot which would likely put him off a potential move, however, this has not stopped reports linking the Gunners with a potential replacement.
Stuttgart have seen increased success in the transfer market since the arrival of Sven Mislintat. Arsenal’s former head of recruitment left the club due to a clash of ideas with then Head of Football Raul Sanllehi.
Prior to his arrival at the German side, however, Stuttgart signed the burgeoning left-back Borna Sosa. The Croatian international has developed into a mainstay in the side.
Collecting two goals and five assists already this season. Bild have claimed that the Gunners have joined Chelsea and Tottenham in their pursuit of the full-back.
If this is the case, the club are seemingly preparing for the worst-case scenario that Tierney does eventually leave.
Although, summer signing Nuno Tavares was linked with a move away from the Emirates too with Manchester City of all sides said to be monitoring the progress of the Portuguese youth international according to ESPN.
Despite the likelihood of Arsenal sanctioning the departure of either player exceptionally low, knowing that the club is putting measures in place to prepare for future exits is encouraging.
Arsenal were left without a left-back for the second half of the 2020/21 season after Sead Kolasinac joined Schalke on loan and Tierney got injured. This cost them significantly in both the league and Europa League where Emery’s Villarreal eliminated them in the quarter-final.
Edu cannot allow these types of mishaps to reoccur and the link to Sosa indicates that the club is more than ready for surprise departures.
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