Kieran Tierney admits Arsenal future is out of his control

Kieran Tierney has insisted that he remains "happy" at Arsenal but has admitted that his future at the club is out of his control.

The 26-year-old left-back joined the Gunners from Celtic for around £25m in the summer of 2019, but he has struggled with injuries and a lack of regular first-team football during his time in North London.

Tierney was reduced to just 15 starts across all tournaments in the 2022-23 campaign and he was pushed down the pecking order following the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko last summer.

The Scotland international has been handed just four starts since the turn of the year and speculation over his long-term future at the Emirates Stadium is rife.

Tierney, who still has three years remaining on his Arsenal contract, has been tipped to return to Glasgow and re-join Celtic, with newly-appointed manager Brendan Rodgers believed to be an admirer of the defender.

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A potential stay in the Premier League has also been mooted with the likes of Newcastle United, Manchester City and Aston Villa having all been credited with an interest.

Tierney has since acknowledged that he remains committed to Arsenal and respects his role under manager Mikel Arteta, but he has admitted that he may not have the final say on his future at the club.

Asked during an interview with The Athletic if he has held a conversation with Arteta about his future, Tierney said: "No. It's not really up to me. I'm happy, I'm working hard every day and getting minutes. I'm just trying to do as well as I can.

The Scotsman added: "You can't play every single game, every single season, every single year. I don't expect that and I still made a lot of appearances last year.

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"I was ready every game and working 100%. I think everyone in there would agree with that, that I never give less than that whether I'm playing or not.

"In the games I did play I tried to do my best for the team. I came off the bench a lot last season, whether that was to see games out or help get a goal."

Arsenal have already forked out over £200m in the summer transfer market to recruit Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber, but Arteta recently refused to rule out making further additions before the new season.

However, it is thought that the Gunners need to raise funds from player sales before they can dip back into the market, and the sale of Tierney is believed to be under consideration.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are understood to be ready to offload Nicolas Pepe and Cedric Soares, while Thomas Partey has been linked with a summer move to Saudi Arabia.