£25m star with 91 Premier League appearances snubbed from Arsenal programme in major exit hint

Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney has been airbrushed from the club’s pre-season matchday programme amid uncertainty surrounding his long-term future at the Emirates Stadium.

The Celtic hero arrived in North London from Parkhead in the summer of 2019 for a reported £25m fee, making him the most expensive Scottish footballer in history at the time.

Tierney was regarded as one of the best defenders in the Scottish Premiership from a young age after bursting on the scene in the Hoops academy and he lifted an incredible eight trophies in his four trophy-laden seasons in the Celtic line-up.

After an injury hit start to life in North London under Unai Emery, he went on form an important part of Mikel Arteta’s team in his first months as manager as he played the full 90 minutes in an FA Cup triumph over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium.

This form earned the Scottish international a regular starting spot at left back for the next season, and when fit and available, he was often lauded for his explosive speed and ability to get involved in attacks and create chances for his teammates with his accurate crossing.

However, a combination of injuries and the arrival of Ukrainian international Oleksandr Zinchenko began to push Tierney down the pecking order and after the arrival of Jurrien Timber, Arteta decided that Tierney was surplus to requirements at the club last summer.

At the time, Arsenal were seeking a fee of £30m for his services with Newcastle United and former club Celtic showing interest. However, neither club was willing to meet that price tag and the Gunners settled on allowing Tierney to join Real Sociedad on a season-long loan deal.

Tierney made 20 league appearances in the Basque Country, in a season that was hampered by two major hamstring injuries.The 27-year-old has since been heavily linked with a permanent exit at a cut-price fee of £10m and himself has hinted that there is every chance that he could leave this summer. However, the 47-time Scotland international insists that he will fight for his place until that decision is made.

He told The Athletic earlier this summer:  "There is every chance. Look at the squad depth in that position now. They have (Oleksandr) Zinchenko, (Jurrien) Timber, (Takehiro) Tomiyasu, (Jakub) Kiwior.

"Four players can play there. So if I go back and it’s the same as before then I’m not silly, I know the chances are I’ll be leaving. But you never know in football.

"You get the rare case with (William) Saliba, where he came back after a couple of good seasons (out on loan) but you don’t see it too often with someone who has played for four years, left, and then come back to play again. Stranger things have happened. I could go back and there is a place for me. So I’m prepared for both.”

Arsenal, however, appears to have reached their verdict on Tierney’s future. During their recent 4-1 pre-season victory over German champions Bayer Leverkusen there was no mention of Tierney on the club’s match-day programme. While he is currently injured, players aren’t usually left off a programme squad list under such circumstances unless there is a plan in place to sell him.

As it stands, there has been no concrete interest in Tierney this summer, although Mail Sport have claimed that Real Sociedad are considering moving for the defender on a permanent deal this summer after producing a string of steady performances when available.