As previously reported, Real Sociedad confirmed the loan transfer of Kieran Tierney on Sunday, with the Arsenal left-back joining the Spanish club until the end of the season.
Tierney was long expected to complete a permanent transfer away from Arsenal this summer, with Newcastle United reported to be the favourites for the move.
But Newcastle ended up going for Lewis Hall of Chelsea instead, and it seems there weren’t any other bidders willing to pay Arsenal’s asking price.
As a result, Tierney has gone out on loan, but Arsenal are still set to make a very minor profit from the move.
Kaya Kaynak reports that Sociedad will pay Tierney’s full wages for the season, and they’re also paying Arsenal a £1.2m loan fee.
Tierney will still have a contract at Arsenal for another couple of years upon his return to north London, so the Gunners will be in a pretty good position to negotiate a sale if the Scottish international has a strong year in Spain.
It seems a long shot that the 26-year-old will be reintegrated into Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team, but that’s also not impossible at this stage.
Tierney made 36 appearances for Arsenal last season, but only 15 of those were in the starting lineup.
Oleksandr Zinchenko became Arteta’s first-choice option, and the manager has opted to use an inverted right-back with Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu, or Jakub Kiwior at left-centre-back instead of using Tierney this month.
A loan will give him the chance to get back to playing every week ahead of Euro 2024, with Scotland currently leading their qualifying group.
