Arsenal have opted against activating the clause in Kieran Tierney's contract that would keep him at the club for another year, meaning he'll leave the club in 2025.
Tierney's current deal expires next summer, but Arsenal had the option to extend it by another 12 months - potentially allowing the club to garner a bigger fee for the left-back's services next summer.
The Scottish international has long been on the periphery in north London having once been an instrumental figure for Mikel Arteta down the left flank. After spening the 2023/24 season on loan at Real Sociedad, Tierney was expected to leave the club permanently in the summer. However, a long-term injury sustained at Euro 2024 prevented his sale.
He's since worked his way back to full fitness and made his first Arsenal appearance since August 2023, but the 27-year-old is not in Arsenal's long-term plans.
Kieran Tierney will leave Arsenal in 2025
Feels amazing to be back out at the Emirates! Thank you so much for the reception… always grateful ❤️ Onto the semis 💪🏼 @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/T6WbJ9sOOO
— Kieran Tierney (@kierantierney1) December 18, 2024
David Ornstein broke the news of Tierney's impending departure after the left-back played 69 minutes during Arsenal's 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. Tierney offered something different from left-back, with Arteta giving the Scot the license to bomb on as opposed to tucking into a central position.
The Gunners are well stocked at left-back and have blessed with an array of profiles who can perform the role. Tierney was usurped by Oleksandr Zinchenko in 2022, but the Ukrainian has since found himself lower down in the pecking order.
Riccardo Calafiori was signed from Bologna in the summer to develop into the club's long-term option, but the Italian international has endured a stop-start campaign thus far.
Arsenal could aim to secure a fee for Tierney in January as opposed to letting him walk in the summer, but the Gunners will have little leverage when attempting to negotiate with interested parties this winter.
There has been talk of a Celtic reunion, with Tierney appearing 170 times for the Scottish giants before joining Arsenal.
Commenting on the latest Tierney news, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said: "Kieran is someone I know really well but there will be lots of players linked with coming to Celtic.
"We will never speak about a player, especially a young player who is at another club. But we've got work to do, we know that. We want to improve the squad further in a number of key areas.
"But until that happens, the players we've got here have been working so well," he added.
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