Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney has ruled out being recalled to Emirates Stadium in January and has explained his ‘love’ for Real Sociedad on loan with the La Liga club.
The 26-year-old switched north London for the Basque region last August after falling out of favour under Mikel Arteta. He agreed to join Real Sociedad on a season-long loan deal after starting just six Premier League games from 27 appearances during the 2022/23 campaign.
Arteta handed Tierney another 21 appearances as a substitute but also left him on Arsenal’s bench 11 times. The Scotland international was fit for each of their top-flight fixtures. But he fell to second choice following Oleksandr Zinchenko’s arrival from Manchester City in 2022.
Arsenal’s injury problems raised the potential for Kieran Tierney’s recall
Injury problems often blighted Tierney following his transfer to Arsenal from Celtic in August 2019. He only featured 15 times in the 2019/20 Premier League season, 27 times in 2020/21 and 22 times in 2021/22. And this term has, again, seen Tierney spend time on the sidelines.
Real Sociedad boss Imanol Alguacil has started Tierney in all nine of his La Liga appearances so far this season. He has also started the 39-cap Scotland wing-back once over two games in the Champions League. But Tierney has missed a total of nine games due to injury so far.
Tierney sustained a hamstring injury at the start of October, which sidelined him through to December. But Arsenal dealing with their own injury problems with Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu – who will be with Japan at the Asia Cup – raised the potential for Tierney’s recall.
What has Kieran Tierney said about ending his Real Sociedad loan early?
Yet a return to Emirates Stadium is not on Tierney’s radar after publicly telling Arteta that he will not come back until the summer. The left-back is also open to staying at Real Sociedad beyond this season should the Txuri-Urdin target Tierney’s permanent transfer from Arsenal.
Tierney has told Noticias de Gipuzkoa. “Several people have already asked me if I was going to return to Arsenal now and the answer is no. I’m going to stay here, for sure.
“The decision [about staying for longer] is not mine. But the only thing I can say is that I love playing for Real. And I’m enjoying it very much.”
But while Tierney has publicly ruled out Arsenal recalling him, the defender also shared his gratitude for the support that the Gunners fanbase have shown him throughout his time in north London. He featured in 124 games with Arsenal before joining Real Sociedad on loan.
“Arsenal fans are incredible and have always supported me a lot,” he continued. “During the four years that I was there, I have always been very grateful to the fans for their support.”
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