Tierney future at Arsenal takes big twist as Kiwior handed new role
Newcastle is showing strong interest in signing Kieran Tierney, and it appears that his time at Arsenal may come to an end this summer.
This is due to the fact that his playing time has significantly decreased since Oleksandr Zinchenko joined the team from Manchester City before the 2022/23 season.
Zinchenko plays a critical role in Mikel Arteta’s system at Arsenal, where he forms a deep-lying midfield partnership with Thomas Partey.
This enables Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard to wreak havoc on the opposition team. Additionally, during the early part of the season, Gabriel Jesus was able to benefit from Zinchenko’s position being more central, as it allowed him to drop into a deeper role from the left and create attacking opportunities for Gabriel Martinelli.
Zinchenko’s adaptability is crucial for Arsenal, and it appears that Arteta has tried to teach Tierney his role, but the Scottish international has only had brief appearances and Europa League minutes. Even when Zinchenko was out with a calf injury for a month, Tierney was not chosen over Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Given these circumstances, Tierney seems dissatisfied with his playing time, as he has only played 63 minutes in the Premier League since the start of the year. Newcastle’s interest in signing him has increased, but Arteta has praised Tierney’s professionalism.
“Very good because we talked and we discussed the situation and we had a very similar opinion about that”, the Gunners boss told football.london when asked how the talented left-back has reacted to being left out for such a long period of time.
“He knows his role – under me he’s played a lot, more than any other player probably compared to the previous players at the club in the last three years and he understands the situation and he needs to challenge the situation.”
It is unlikely that Arsenal would want to sell Tierney to a Premier League rival, especially after benefiting from Manchester City’s decision to let him go. Letting him leave would also leave Arsenal with a gap in that position. However, Arteta may have found a potential replacement for Tierney from within the club.
Jakub Kiwior was signed from Spezia in the January transfer window as a left-footed center back who could also play in midfield. Arteta likely targeted the 23-year-old due to his versatility, which is similar to that of Zinchenko and Ben White.
Kiwior has also recently played on the left side of a back four for the Polish national team during their Euro qualifier against Albania. His performance in that role has caught the attention of the Polish media.
Sport Wprost handed Kiwior a five out of 10 for his display noting that “he did well with the basics” while Meczyki gave the defender the same rating, but labelled his performance as “nervous”.
Although there are differing opinions on Kiwior’s performance as a left-back, he has demonstrated to Poland coach Fernando Santos that he is capable of playing in that position. This development may have been communicated to Arteta, who could potentially allow Tierney to leave knowing that he has another backup option in Kiwior.
Tierney future at Arsenal takes big twist as Kiwior handed new role
