Kieran Tierney makes prediction about Arsenal's future and admits Mikel Arteta was right to loan him out

Kieran Tierney has admitted his Arsenal career is likely over and said he looks set to leave this summer.

The left-back arrived in north London from Celtic in the summer of 2019 and made 124 appearances for the club over four seasons at the Emirates Stadium.

But Mikel Arteta has rebuilt the Gunners squad since then and Tierney has fallen out of favor with the Premier League title contenders.

After battling persistent injuries, Arsenal signed Oleksandr Zinchenko from Man City in 2022, with Tierney playing second fiddle at left-back for much of that season.

The decision was made last summer to allow the 26-year-old to join Spanish side Real Sociedad on a season-long loan, a decision that has been hampered by a hamstring injury.

While Tierney has made 22 appearances for the club, the Scotland international admits it could be a big summer for him as he considers leaving north London for good.

When asked about a possible return to Arsenal, Tierney told The Athletic: “There are many possibilities.

“Look at the depth of the team at that position now. They have (Oleksandr) Zinchenko, (Jurrien) Timber, (Takehiro) Tomiyasu, (Jakub) Kiwior. Four players can play there.

“So if I come back and it's the same as before then I'm not stupid, I know I'll most likely leave.

“But in football you never know. There is the rare case of (William) Saliba, where he came back after a couple of good seasons (loan), but you don't see very often with someone who played for four years, left and then came back. to play again.

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“Stranger things have happened. I could come back and there is a place for me. So I’m prepared for both.”

Discussing his fall from grace when Arteta signed Zinchenko, Tierney said: “There are no hard feelings or hard feelings on my part.

“I understand the coach's decision to change me from number 1 to number 2. It's football.

“It never happened personally. It was tactical. He thought the best thing was to get results from Arsenal and if you look at it, he was 100 per cent right.

“Last year they were close to winning the league and this year I think they will do it.

“Arsenal fans are incredible. Every time I post, or the Society posts, there are still fans who say, “I wish you were here.”

“It makes me happy as they could easily forget about me because I'm not there anymore.”