Kieran Tierney has been benched for Arsenal's trip to Nottingham Forest, with Mikel Arteta's selection decision, potentially, suggesting that the Scottish international does not have a future in North London.
Tierney joined the Gunners from Celtic three years ago, in a deal thought to be worth around £25 million. Since then, the 25-year-old has made 121 appearances across all competitions for Arteta's side despite struggling with injuries.
The arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City, however, has seen the Scotsman's game-time significantly reduced, especially in the Premier League where Tierney has only completed 90 minutes on three occasions.
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Nevertheless, an injury to Zinchenko enabled Tierney to return to the starting XI for last week's defeat to Brighton, a game in which he failed to impress.
It had been expected that Arteta would stick with Tierney due to the lack of viable alternatives in the position, with Granit Xhaka having only operated their sparingly in the past.
Though, eyebrows were raised at 16:30 when Arsenal released their line-up into the public domain. While the club's official social media graphic suggested that Xhaka would play at left-back, it was in fact Jakub Kiwior that lined up in that position with Thomas Partey at right-back and Ben White in the middle of defence.
Arteta's reluctance to select a natural left-back over a makeshift one could be interpreted as a sign of things to come for Tierney, who has previously been linked with Newcastle United.
Arsenal fell behind inside the opening 20 minutes when Morgan Gibbs-White broke through to play Taiwo Awoniyi in on goal before the Nigerian finished calmly.
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