Kieran Tierney looked a player untouchable at Arsenal for much of the past three seasons that he’s been in north London since arriving in 2019. Under Unai Emery initially and then Mikel Arteta, Tierney became the go-to left-back but became hamstrung by repetitive injury issues.
These combined with Arsenal manager Arteta’s view for the position led to the signing of Oleksandr Zinchenko in 2022. The Ukrainian has become quickly the preferred choice for Arteta having worked with him at Manchester City, as well as his familiarity with the player, his top-class ability to play the inverted role and his leadership characteristics.
Tierney meanwhile has tried to adapt this season and take on more inverted responsibilities when in the team. However, it has not been enough to convince Arteta to use the Scottish international more often and even to give him any minutes whatsoever in the past three league games.
