Particularly under Mikel Arteta, there comes a time when your Arsenal career is over in the blink of an eye.
While that may not happen to club stalwarts such as Gabriel and Declan Rice, just ask the likes of Aaron Ramsdale and Emile Smith Rowe how quickly things can change.
You may not necessarily have done very much wrong. Ramsdale and Smith Rowe had not. Yet, in an attempt to raise the floor of his team, Arteta has had to be ruthless.
Aaron-Ramsdale-Arsenal
The Gunners have not won the Premier League or Champions League just yet, but very few can argue with the fact that Arsenal's squad depth is the best in the country.
They have achieved that through years of hard work in the transfer market, getting rid of players like Ramsdale and buying not just floor raisers but ceiling raisers in the shape of David Raya.
A whole number of players have been through the same process, whether it be Oleksandr Zinchenko or in sadder circumstances, Kieran Tierney.
What went wrong for Kieran Tierney at Arsenal
Signed in a £25m deal from Celtic back in August 2019, the Scot happened to be one of the final signings of the dismal Unai Emery era in north London.
As it happens, Tierney was initially a fantastic capture. Wanted by most teams in England's top division, the Gunners had sealed quite a coup in order to bring him to the Emirates Stadium.
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A flying full-back, the Scotland international was brave, combative and a real threat in the final third. A whole-hearted defender, it was his work on the left flank that was so striking.
He'd regularly get to the byline and act as something of a left winger at times. Yet, courtesy of a wretched injury record and Arteta's tweak in tactics, things went downhill for Tierney in the English capital rather quickly.
The fact of the matter is that the now 28-year-old couldn't stay off the treatment table, missing over 60 games due to a number of injury setbacks. While that put him on the back foot, so did Zinchenko's arrival.
Arteta now wanted a full-back capable of inverting. Tierney was the exact opposite.
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Speaking about that in an interview with the Guardian back in February 2024, the Scottish defender said: "One of the big things about Arsenal is their left-back is one of the most central players; [Oleksandr] 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."
Tierney would go on to spend the 2023/24 season on loan at Real Sociedad but did return to the first team set up at the Emirates last season, enjoying something of a mini revival.
He featured in 13 Premier League matches, even scoring on his farewell appearance at Southampton, waving goodbye in the best way possible.
Sadly for Arsenal, it looks like the Tierney situation may be repeating itself.
Arsenal's new Kieran Tierney
Tierney's downfall at Arsenal was through no fault of his own. He trained hard and had a fantastic attitude. However, sometimes in life, it's just best to move on.
Unfortunately for a certain Ben White, it would appear he is falling victim to the same sort of situation right now.
Ben White of Arsenal
Signed for £50m back in 2021, question marks were raised about the fee after just one full season of Premier League football with Brighton.
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The Gunners have spent generously in recent years.
Yet, since arriving, the defender has more than repaid that transfer fee with some phenomenal performances at right-back.
White was initially signed as a centre-back, notably starring under Marcelo Bielsa as Leeds won promotion out of the Championship. It was in the EFL where he made a name for himself but it was not long before he reached Premier League stardom too.
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At Arsenal, he has become one of the best defenders in the country, initially fielded at centre-back before shifting over to right-back which is where he has found a more permanent home for himself.
When he first arrived in the capital, journalist Tom Barclay wrote that the Gunners had acquired "one of the best prospects in English football" and for a while, he very much looked like that.
He was an England regular, one of the most important parts of this Arsenal team. He only missed one league game during his first year with the club, played 46 matches the following campaign and then reached over half a century of appearances in 2023/24.
Ben White's Arsenal career
Season
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
2025/26
A rock-solid member of Arteta's ever-improving backline, he was also a menace in the final third, registering as many as 16 goal involvements between 2022/23 and 2023/24. His partnership on the right alongside Bukayo Saka was a huge weapon for Arsenal.
However, much like Zinchenko damaged Tierney's game time, Jurrien Timber, the "best right-back in the Premier League", in the words of the Standard's Simon Collings has hurt White's chances of making a long career for himself in London.
That said, it's not all the Dutchman's fault. Over the last year White, like Tierney, has become rather injury-prone.
Since the start of 2024/25, he has missed 33 matches due to injury. That's nearly an entire league campaign. While he did return to full fitness at the beginning of 2025/26, Timber has simply been too good to be dislodged.
Kieran-Tierney-Ben-White
Subsequently, the English defender has started just five league games all term. He has not started since 17th January either. In fact, the 28-year-old wasn't even in the match day squads for the wins over Spurs and Chelsea because of a knock.
Crucially, he doesn't just have to compete with Timber now either. Summer signing Cristian Mosquera appeared from the bench against Tottenham and delivered a faultless performance at right back.
Like Tierney, it's a really sad sequence of events and it would not be a surprise if White fails to start another game for the Gunners before departing in the summer. This certainly looks like the end of the road for the full-back.
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