Kieran Tierney‘s time at Arsenal has been thwarted by injuries and competition.
Signed from Scottish giants Celtic by ex-manager Unai Emery for £25m in August 2019, the Scotland international was widely touted to be the Gunners’ long-term solution to the problematic left-back role, which had largely been unfulfilled since the exits of Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs, and even one day as a potential captain.
However, things have not gone to plan for the 25-year-old, who has mustered up 114 appearances across four campaigns, averaging nearly half a full schedule each season.
Just four of those have been starts in the Premier League this term as Tierney has unsuccessfully wrestled with £32m summer signing Oleksandr Zinchenko for the starting gig.
With this lack of minutes, the Scotsman has been linked with an exit from the club ahead of the summer transfer window, with Premier League rivals Newcastle United among the mooted suitors.
Kieran Tierney – flop or not?
FLOP
NOT
How much has Kieran Tierney cost Arsenal?
The 5 foot 10 defender still has three years to run on his current £110k-per-week deal, meaning he won’t come cheap for any interested party, though the north London outfit would do very well to recoup the amount they have spent on him since his arrival.
On top of his £25m fee, Tierney has cost the club around £20.5m in wages across the last 187 weeks and that’s excluding any additional costs relating to treatment and recovery over the years.
It means the Parkhead graduate has had a total outlay of £45.5m – and counting – which suggests that he has not been worth it, considering you’re only getting 20-25 games per season out of him.
Despite this, Tierney – who ex-boss Ronny Delia hailed as an “unbelievable professional” – remains a popular figure among players, staff and the fanbase but that shouldn’t deter sporting director Edu Gaspar from being a little ruthless if the right fee comes in.
FootballTransfers currently value the “machine” – as once lauded by journalist Simon Collings – at around €39.8m (£35m), which is down substantially from November 2021, where he was estimated to be worth in the region of €63.6m (£56m).
It’s a telling sign that injuries have played a massive part in stunting his development at the Emirates Stadium, whilst the recent introduction of Zinchenko, who seems a far more reliable and consistent fit under Mikel Arteta, has only made Tierney’s task of becoming a future captain a mere dream.
Overall, it’s hard to argue against the Emery signing being anything but an expensive dud at this stage.
AND in other news, Cost £0, now worth £44m: Arsenal have hit the jackpot on “extraordinary” 5 ft 8 dynamo…
