Kieran Tierney has opened up on losing friends to suicide and battling homesickness following his move from Celtic to Arsenal three years ago.
The Scotland international, 25, completed a £25million transfer to the Emirates and has excelled on the pitch, helping Mikel Arteta's side with the FA Cup and Community Shield. Injuries have hampered his progress, restricting him to 64 Premier League games.
Despite his on-pitch success, Tierney has struggled to deal with being away from Scotland. The defender bravely spoke about two of his friends who committed suicide and his regret at them not feeling comfortable enough to speak out when they were struggling.
"It was hard to start with, I was really struggling," Tierney told The Sun. "Really low point. Homesickness was terrible to start with. Outside training you had a lot of time to think. I’m not saying I was ever in a bad, bad place where I was suicidal.
"But my friends have been. Two or three of them have committed suicide, lost their life. You’re with these people and you don’t know a thing. They’ve not spoke. So I think I feel a certain responsibility to try and help as much as I can because I kind of know how it feels to be in a certain place."
Tierney was born on the Isle of Man but grew up in Scotland, supporting Celtic as a child. He got the chance to join his boyhood club as an eight-year-old and went on to make 170 senior appearances, winning eight trophies, including four Scottish Premiership titles.
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"Where I grew up was Muirhouse in Motherwell," added Tierney. "It was just working class upbringing. If you want something you were told you need to work for it.
"I think that’s where I get a lot of my work-rate from. My mentality is from my mum and dad. They worked for everything they have. My mum had three jobs, as a dinner lady, a cleaner in the school. She was up at five, six in the morning everyday just to provide for me and my sister."
Tierney stars in Amazon's new documentary - 'All or Nothing: Arsenal' - which charts the club's 2021/22 campaign. The Gunners finished fifth in the Premier League, falling short in the top-four race after suffering defeats by Tottenham and Newcastle in the final three fixtures.
Technical director Edu has urged Arsenal not to miss out on Champions League football again. Speaking at the premiere of the documentary, Edu was asked if the squad is the strongest it's been since his appointment in July 2019. "Yes, of course," came the reply.
"The intention is to be better every season. Your sense in terms of squad balance, in terms of quality of the players, in terms of almost everything. So I think so far we were doing quite well and I hope we will finish the transfer season the way we have planned it.
"First of all I always have in front of me [in his office] the squad – because I dream for the squad every day I sit in my chair, I’m seeing there I’m just working myself and how can we improve, how can you be better."
Help can be found by calling the Samaritans free of charge at any time on 116 123 or alternatively by sending an email to jo@samaritans.org or visit Samaritans.org.
