Kieran Tierney could have a second chance at nailing down a starting spot at Arsenal in the coming weeks - after it emerged that fellow left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko would be ruled out with injury until the end of the season.
Tierney joined Arsenal for £25million from Celtic in 2019, where he nailed down a starting spot under Unai Emery as the Gunners aimed to banish their Champions League exile with a top-four finish. Emery was sacked just five months into Tierney's spell at the Emirates Stadium, leaving Mikel Arteta to take the hot seat in the red half of north London.
Under Arteta, Tierney had been a key player; with 49 appearances across the previous two seasons, he was well ahead of Nuno Tavares and Sead Kolasinac and even acted as vice-captain. But the arrival of Zinchenko from Manchester City this summer has threatened to end all of that, with the Ukrainian fitting into Arteta's mantra much easier than Tierney does thanks to his ability to play as an inverted wing-back.
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However, despite Tierney being linked with a move to money-laden Newcastle in the coming summer transfer window, he will get a second reprieve to save his Arsenal career until the end of the season - with The Athletic reporting that Zinchenko and fellow defender William Saliba will be out until the start of June.
Of course, it will come as a huge blow to Arteta in his plans to win the Premier League. The Gunners, by large, have had a brilliant season and will play in the Champions League for the first time since 2017 when they take to Europe's premier cup competition next season. But with the title so close and key players being ruled out until pre-season, characters such as Tierney will have to step up if they are to snatch it away from Manchester City's reach.
It would mark a first Premier League title in 19 years for the club, should City slip up and they take advantage of any dropped points.
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