Could having Tierney in Arsenal’s Champions League squad be a blessing in disguise? | OneFootball

Forgotten man’s surprise inclusion in the EUFA Champions League squad means he’s not going out on loan again.

The Arsenal squad list has been revealed for the UCL league phase with the notable surprise pick being the inclusion of Scottish international Kieran Tierney, A player who was brought in from Celtic in 2019 has struggled to find the form and consistency he showed in the Scottish top flight in an Arsenal shirt ever since, these inconsistencies and a change in playing style by the club, saw him drop down the pecking order before eventually being loaned out to Real Sociedad last season, the deal wasn’t made permanent though and we have since welcomed him back to the club however he played no part in our preseason fixtures due to an hamstring injury picked up during the Euros and still remains unavailable due to that Injury.

This along with fact that we’ve simply moved on from his type of profile are the reasons why I’m surprised he was included in the UEFA Champions League squad list, not to mention that we’re absolutely stacked in that area of the field. Even though deadline day was closed last week, on Friday I still had hopes we would have got at least a loan move done for him given other leagues such as the Turkish super league and Saudi pro league have a longer transfer window. Tierney still has undoubted quality which I think he would have showcased in the leagues mentioned above.

However, an Arsenal player he still remains and that means that we gooners must get behind him and support him even though I think he won’t get much game time at the club this season, never mind in the UEFA Champions League. Bigger surprises have happened in football though, with Tierney still being a solid option to call upon in a game state where we need to stay compact, defend our box and play on the counter.

Injuries as much as anything has been one of the biggest hindrances in his Arsenal career with the Scottish international missing large parts of seasons where he was the first choice left back with recurring niggles.

Who knows maybe our failure to offload the Scottish international would be a blessing in disguise (I highly doubt that) but would a fully fit and firing Kieran Tierney be a better choice than Kiwior, Zinchenko or even Tomiyasu at left back?