Mikel Arteta insists Kieran Tierney is a BIG part of his Arsenal squad and he's shown his commitment by not doing one thing he's done in the past.
The Celtic diehard was handed his first minutes in the colours of the Gunners for an extended period midweek in the Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Crystal Palace. News has since emerged that the EPL giants are not going to take up the option in his contract in North London meaning he will be a free agent come the end of the season. His lack of top team action and situation over his future has sparked huge swirls that a return to his boyhood club could be on the cards as early as January.
Brendan Rodgers spoke earlier today and has held a meeting with club supremo Dermot Desmond to thrash out winter window plans. He admitted it was inevitable the former fans' favourite would be linked with a move back up the road as he refused to rule out making a move for the Scotland international.
But Arteta offered a more coy response insisting he would not play anyone who was thinking of leaving and the defender himself as not approached the Spaniard to engineer a move out of the Emirates in the coming weeks. Speaking via Football London, he said: "At the moment he is here with us. I wouldn't play a player who is thinking of leaving. He’s a big part of the squad now. He hasn’t come to me and said I want to move. In the past he has done but it hasn’t been the case yet."
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
On KT, Rodgers said earlier today "We'll always be linked with top players and especially players that are one of us. Kieran was an instrumental part of a really, really successful period when I was here.
"And his talents then took him on to another challenge in the Premier League. So, yeah, we'll be linked with lots of names. Kieran, obviously, naturally because of his situation. But for us, we'll only ever tell you when we sign a player, once he's signed.”