Kieran Tierney – who will join the Scottish champions this summer - has been preferred over the England international, despite being a left-back by trade.
The former West Ham United player, who made five appearances under Ronny Deila in the 2015/16 season, criticised the Arsenal manager over his usage of the on-loan Chelsea winger on The Dressing Room podcast, alongside Joe Cole. He said: “That’s disrespectful. Raheem is a proper player, we know that. I actually think he did alright at Chelsea, I don’t think he did badly.
“He didn’t suit the club; he’s getting on and they want to get youngsters in. But he’s gone to Arsenal, and I was thinking he was going to do well. Forget about all the noise, actions say a lot.
“They needed a goal, and he brought on Kieran Tierney instead of a seasoned pro, a goalscorer that might get back on track. He could make something happen. For me, I would say that’s disrespectful.”
Joe Cole added: “Raheem will see it as that, for sure. For me, it didn’t work out for Raheem at Chelsea, but I thought Arsenal would have been perfect, it made sense.
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“But Arteta’s just not using him. There are reports coming out that he’s training well and is respected by the coaching staff, but if Mikel Arteta is doing that... I feel for him.”
Tierney made 170 appearances for Celtic in his first spell at the club, scoring eight goals in all competitions. He won a total of four Scottish Premiership titles, as well as two Scottish Cups and two League Cups, under the management of Deila, Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon.
He joined Arsenal for £25 million back in 2019, where he has made 134 appearances in under six years. He spent the 2023/24 season out on loan at Real Sociedad, making 26 total appearances for the Basque side.