This summer is set to be a massive one for Arsenal, irrespective of whether they win the Premier League title in May.
The chief objective for Mikel Arteta and Co will be to bring in a brand new striker, a player capable of firing them to new heights and scoring the copious amount of goalscoring opportunities they create each game.
Ivan Toney is one of the primary targets for the Gunners but how will they fund what could be such a seismic move? A price tag of around £80m-£100m has been touted but money doesn't grow on trees.
As a result, Edu Gaspar could look to sell some of the club's fringe players. Eddie Nketiah was linked with a move to Crystal Palace over the winter, Aaron Ramsdale feels likely to leave after limited minutes and you've also got the curious case of Emile Smith Rowe too.
Selling on a few players out on loan could also be beneficial. Two of the absentees from the first team squad at the Emirates Stadium this term happen to be left-backs; Kieran Tierney and Nuno Tavares.
The latter is spending the campaign at Nottingham Forest while Tierney is living what feels like a more luxurious life in the Basque Country of Spain with Real Sociedad.
How Kieran Tierney is playing at Real Sociedad
It won't surprise Arsenal fans to know that Tierney has endured an injury-hit spell in La Liga having missed five games in the early stages of the campaign with a hamstring problem.
The Scot is absent again now due to a similar issue and has sat out the last three league games. The defender also missed the chance to see how he'd fare against Kylian Mbappe and Co on Wednesday evening when Real Sociedad fell to a 2-0 defeat against PSG in the Champions League.
That wouldn't have been for the first time, however. Telling The Guardian this week he recalled a clash between the Parisians and Celtic: "Erm … it was hard," the Scottish star said. “I was up against [Kylian] Mbappé; and he’s scored, what, 200 goals since? It was him, Neymar, [Edinson] Cavani.”
Another thing Tierney has found hard is adjusting to Arteta's tactics. That's the reason he was loaned out this term but he is enjoying life in Spain.
The £110k-per-week earner has featured on 17 occasions this term, registering just the one assist but ranking in the top 4% of full-backs in Spain's top tier for tackles won per 90 minutes.
2019/20
Shoulder
19
2020/21
Groin
2
2020/21
Knee
14
2021/22
Ankle
3
2021/22
Knee
10
2023/24
Hamstring
9
2023/24
Hamstring
7 (and counting)
Always a progressive defender who loves to rampage forward down the flanks, it won't come as a shock to note that the 26-year-old sits in the top 8% of positionally similar players in La Liga for passes into the final third per 90.
Despite the injuries, though, Tierney admits about his venture in Spain: "I love every part of it."
Why Kieran Tierney is set to leave Arsenal
What the former Celtic man can't have loved very much was the 2022/23 campaign in north London where his style of play no longer suited what Arteta wanted from a full-back.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was signed as an inverted left-back and with that, Tierney – who is still every bit the "warrior" that Ashley Cole describes him – was rarely seen starting a match in Arsenal colours again.
He told The Guardian in an interview with Sid Lowe: "One of the big things about Arsenal is their left-back is one of the most central players; Zinchenko is one of their biggest creators, more like a No 6. When that first got introduced, it was alien to me. I had never played as centre‑mid, even as a kid. I was always high and wide, what you would call the more normal left-back position I’d kind of known all my life."
Indeed, Tierney has always been a flying full-back, a player who'd hug the touchline and stretch the play. At Sociedad, he's been able to do that again but due to the demands Arteta places on his team, it's unlikely he'll be seen in an Arsenal shirt again.
25
1
4
38
2
5
25
1
3
36
1
2
Now, the Premier League side have the likes of Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu who can both invert very capably from a left-back role.
As a result, it is only likely to see Tierney alienated even more when he returns to England in the summer. Speaking about what might occur when his loan in Spain finishes, he commented: "I’m very grateful. I don’t know what’s going to happen but I’m loving it, I’ve adapted well."
Indeed, he will come back no doubt thankful for his time at Arsenal but ultimately knowing a permanent move is required for the good of his career. It'll be a sad end for someone who has been much loved at the Emirates.