Arsenal could decide to recall left-back Kieran Tierney from his loan spell with Real Sociedad after Oleksandr Zinchenko was ruled out for the Gunners’ 2-1 defeat to Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday. The north Londoners suffered a miserable run of form over the festive period and have lost three of their last five matches.
Zinchenko has started 14 Premier League encounters this season but was a surprise absentee for Arsenal’s trip to Craven Cottage. And Arteta confirmed the Ukraine international was suffering from “slight calf issue” as he told reporters: “We don’t know. He felt something in his calf. We will scan him tomorrow and see how far he’s going to miss games.”
Jakub Kiwior started in place of Zinchenko in west London but was hauled off at half time in favour of Takehiro Tomiyasu. But neither of the duo looked convincing as Fulham caused the away defence all sorts of problems.
Arsenal have a ready-made replacement for Zinchenko in the form of Tierney, who joined the Gunners from Celtic in 2019. The Scotland international was once a key player under Arteta and had been tipped to become the club’s captain. But he fell out of favour after Zinchenko moved to the capital in 2022 and was used sparingly last season.
Tierney made the move to Spain last summer in an effort to get his career back on track. And the 26-year-old has featured eight times in La Liga and twice in the Champions League, despite being hit with a hamstring injury in the autumn.
Tierney is known for his leadership credentials, which could prove invaluable to Arteta at such a fragile time for his side. And the player may jump at the opportunity to reignite his Gunners career if Zinchenko is likely to be out for an extended period of time.
Tierney has made 124 appearances for the Gunners and has contributed five goals and 14 assists. He has also been capped 39 times by Scotland. And former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has suggested Arteta should give the player a chance to solve his left-back problem.
“Kiwior at left-back – he is not a full-back, he is a centre-back,” Sutton told BBC 606 on Sunday evening. And when the caller he was speaking to mentioned a return for Tierney, the ex-England international added: “Good shout, does he have a recall? Does he have a recall after six months? Why did you let Tierney go in the first place? Maybe he wanted to play football, but it’s a good point.”
