Having said his farewells during his final few weeks at the club, Kieran Tierney admits that he’s “loved every minute” of his six years in north London.
The Scottish left-back will be a free agent in the summer and departs Emirates Stadium having played 144 times for us since arriving from boyhood club Celtic back in 2019. During his time with us, Kieran was part of the team that won the 2020 FA Cup in Mikel Arteta’s first few months at the helm, and his all-action, determined displays won him plenty of affection from our supporters.
And it’s those Gooners that he wanted to thank personally after he was afforded plenty of love during our lap of appreciation following our final home game of the season against Newcastle United, before being serenaded from the St Mary’s stands after he signed off with his sixth and final goal at Southampton on the final day.
And when asked for his parting message, Kieran said: “Just thank you for everything from day one. They supported us through the good times and the bad, and they supported me through some hard times as well.
“I think that's what I'm most grateful for, the times where it wasn't so good or so easy for me is when they probably supported me most, so I'm just very grateful and I feel very lucky to have the support from them.
“I feel so lucky that I've played for this club and the love that the supporters have given me has been amazing. I've loved every day here and I've learned so much, I've improved so much and I just feel very lucky.”
Much has changed at the club since KT headed south from Glasgow, and his debut against Nottingham Forest in the League Cup in September 2019. While we won the FA Cup at the end of that Covid-impacted season, we finished eighth in the table as Arteta’s rebuilding job continued.
Now Kieran leaves us having finished second in the table three seasons in a row, and reaching the last four of the Champions League - a far cry from our early elimination in the Europa League in his first campaign. He’s well-placed to give an expert view on how much things have developed behind the scenes.
“When I first came in, obviously the club is huge, absolutely massive, but in the league table we were probably where we shouldn't be. I think the growth over the last three or four years has been incredible and I think this club and this group of players and the manager are just going to go on to even better things in the future.
“It'll be hard but it's a happy goodbye. I've loved it here, loved every minute of it. There are countless memories that are amazing for me; your debut is always special, and winning the FA Cup as well in the first season.
“It's a great team, and I’m so close to some of the boys in there. I've been here a long time, so it'll be sad but a happy goodbye.”
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Tierney's tale: Loving and learning from the game](https://www.arsenal.com/news/tierneys-tale-loving-and-learning-game?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
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