Aston Villa urged to launch audacious move for Arsenal star who could achieve surprise exit
Aston Villa have been told to submit an ambitious offer for Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney after it emerged the Scot could leave Emirates Stadium at the end of the season.
Tierney joined Arsenal from Scottish Premiership club Celtic in August 2019, with the Gunners paying £25million for him. The left-back soon endeared himself to the Arsenal faithful. And he became a favourite of Mikel Arteta’s too, due to his hardworking nature.
He was a regular in the Arsenal team last season, making 25 appearances in all competitions before a knee injury ended his campaign.
Arsenal captured Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City in the summer. He was expected to deputise for Tierney for the most part, although he was always going to push the 25-year-old hard for his starting spot.
Zinchenko has done exceptionally well in recent months. And even though Tierney is back to full fitness, he is struggling to get into the starting lineup ahead of Zinchenko.
Earlier on Friday, CBS Sports journalist James Benge suggested Tierney could end up leaving Arsenal in the summer as a direct result of his diminishing game time.
“There is this growing expectation at Arsenal right now that Kieran Tierney could move in the summer,” Benge said.
“I don’t think Arsenal would push him out the exit door but now he’s not a guaranteed starter. I think if the right offer came in, all parties are kind of thinking this is something that might happen, not guaranteed.
No room for Arsenal man in Arteta plans
“In that case, what you could see is Fresneda coming in to play alongside Ben White as the two right-backs. Then Tomiyasu actually basically becomes the back-up left-back. It’s a role he’s played quite a bit for Arteta.
“It wouldn’t shock me if Arsenal were willing to do the same thing as Dortmund and loan Fresneda back. Tierney wins his Premier League medal maybe and moves on.”
Pundit Stan Collymore thinks Villa should pounce on the situation by replacing Lucas Digne with Tierney.
“If it is true that the Gunners want to offload him, I really hope Aston Villa go in for him,” Collymore said during an interview with CaughtOffside.
“It would make sense as well because I don’t think Lucas Digne is going to be there much longer. And although the Frenchman has done alright since he joined, Tierney is definitely an upgrade.”
Collymore is right about Tierney being an upgrade. When he is on form, the 35-time Scotland international is a dominant force down the left flank.
However, Villa may have some trouble in convincing him to join. After all, he would be going from a club capable of winning the Premier League title to one that is sat in mid-table territory.
Tierney would ideally want to join a club competing in Europe when leaving Arsenal, too. Due to these factors, Unai Emery would have his work cut out convincing Tierney.
Although, Villa are at the start of their project under Emery. So they could get Tierney’s attention by explaining the heights they hope to reach in the next five years.
Meanwhile, TEAMtalk understands a Premier League midfielder has put in a transfer request amid interest from Arsenal.
