Mikel Arteta could now unleash never-seen-before secret weapon for Arsenal after Gabriel Martinelli injury

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Arsenal are down to the bare bones in attacking areas after Gabriel Martinelli was ruled out for over a month with a hamstring injury.

Martinelli will miss up to seven games due to this setback, including matches against Manchester United and Chelsea, and the entirety of the Gunners’ Champions League round of 16 tie.

This leaves Mikel Arteta with just Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling as recognised senior forwards, with youngster Ethan Nwaneri also in the mix.

This may prompt the Arsenal boss to try something unconventional in his front three, as he looks to navigate an extended period of the season with a threadbare offensive cohort.

Mikel Arteta could use Kieran Tierney as a left-winger for Arsenal

Arteta’s default forward trio will likely be Nwaneri, Havertz and Trossard, with Sterling the first option off the bench.

However, beyond these four, there isn’t a natural senior attacker available to the Spaniard.

Given the congested nature of the fixture schedule, Arteta will have to find a fifth player to fill out the forward areas at times.

Kieran Tierney has agreed to join Celtic in the summer when his contract at Arsenal expires, but he may yet still be of use to the North London club.

Not needed at left-back with Riccardo Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly battling it out for that role, Tierney could be freed up to be deployed as Trossard’s deputy on the left-wing.

In his best days at the Emirates, the Scotsman excelled at getting in on the overlap and delivering accurate cut-backs and crosses.

While starting higher up the pitch makes playing on the wing inherently different, Tierney should be able to adapt quickly and be used by Arteta to close games out.

He’s unlikely to offer much of a goal threat, but he’s capable of being creative as a wide forward, and will do the defensive work required of him dilligently.

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Tierney’s offensive statistics 2020/21

In the 2020/21 season, Tierney was often used as the most advanced outlet under Arteta.

Tasked with constantly overlapping the left-winger, he delivered promising output in this role in what was a bad team.

The Scotland international provided eleven assists between 2019 and 2021 for the Gunners.

Creating 1.22 chances per 90 minutes, and completing 0.59 successful crosses per game, Tierney could thrive if given more freedom in forward areas.

It’s certainly not an ideal solution to Arsenal’s depth issues, but this new role for the forgotten left-back could well prove to be a hidden gem for Arteta.