Mikel Arteta decides to let go of 27-year-old Arsenal star after Carabao Cup quarter-final win against Crystal Palace: Reports
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has reportedly decided to part ways with Kieran Tierney. This comes after his appearances in their EFL Cup quarter-final win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday, December 18.
Tierney made his first appearance of the season when the Gunners hosted the Eagles at the Emirates on Wednesday. He played 69 minutes before suffering an injury and had to be subbed off. The Athletic journalist David Ornstein has now reported that Arsenal are looking to sell the Scotland international.
Tierney joined the Gunners from Celtic in 2019 and has registered 124 appearances for them. However, he's fallen out of favor in recent years and spent the last season on loan at Real Sociedad. He returned this season but injury issues have kept him out of action for most parts.
Tierney's contract expires in the summer. He is open to discussing a pre-contract with a foreign club in January for a potential summer transfer. Arsenal, however, are hoping to sell him in January and get some transfer fee.
Celtic are among the clubs interested in re-signing the left-back while there is interest from English and Spanish clubs as well.
Mikel Arteta expresses delight after Arsenal's win over Crystal Palace in EFL Cup quarter-finals
The Gunners hosted Crystal Palace at the Emirates in the EFL Cup quarter-finals. The visitors had an excellent start to the match as Jean-Philippe Mateta opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Gabriel Jesus equalised for Arsenal in the 54th minute and completed his hat-trick by scoring in the 73rd and 81st minutes.
Former Gunners striker Eddie Nketiah scored for Palace in the 85th minute but the hosts held on to secure their place in the semi-finals. Mikel Arteta shared his thoughts in his post-match press conference, saying (via Arsenal.com):
"Really happy, we’re in the semi-final. The game started in a way that we certainly didn’t want to with a very simple goal and then our team had to react and I think we did in a great way, showed a lot of character, so much desire to turn things around.
"In the first half we lacked some threat, we created two or three big chances but didn’t score and with a few adjustments in the second half we got a grip of the game again and we looked a threat."
The north London side have joined Liverpool and Newcastle United in the semi-finals, who beat Southampton and Brentford, respectively, in the quarter-finals. The final semi-finalist will be decided at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium between Tottenham and Manchester United on Thursday.