Tierney injury blow for Arsenal’s transfer plans with Real Sociedad loan spell in disarray
Kieran Tierney is facing a long spell on the sidelines after sustaining a hamstring injury while playing for Real Sociedad and it means bad news for Arsenal as they try to offload the left-back next summer.
It’s awful for Tierney and it’s a real disappointment for Arsenal as well. The big aim of the loan was, at the end of it, Arsenal would be to sell Tierney next summer and also wanting him to play as much as possible. They wanted him to do well so the market was going to be really hot for Tierney and it started so well over there.
He made a big impression, he was playing lots, he was making an impact on games. And to potentially miss a big chunk of the season now is just a real blow to Tierney as a player, but also for Arsenal as well in terms of the potential to sell him next summer.
The hope will be that it’s not as bad as some people were fearing and he’s going to be back sooner rather than later. And you have the same with Albert Sambi Lokonga.
For those two to both now be injured for a big period of time, it’s going to be a real disappointment for Arsenal and clearly for the players as well.
It’s been a problem since the moment Tierney signed and Arsenal have never been able to rely on him being fit. It’s followed him around since he first arrived; he had that reputation at Celtic as well and he’s never really been able to shake it off.
Last season was probably his best season in terms of staying largely injury-free. Although he didn’t play that many minutes or start that many games, he was pretty fit for the whole season. So there were hopes that he put that behind him.
Whether the fact that suddenly he’s been playing a lot more for Sociedad and had games for Scotland as well, and it has just pushed his body a little bit further than it had been used to in the last year or so I don’t know.
That injury tag has always followed Tierney around. And unfortunately, it’s raised its ugly head again.