Arsenal 'set £10m asking price' for star Mikel Arteta once dubbed a potential 'captain'

Arsenal are reportedly prepared to let Kieran Tierney leave on a cut-price deal this summer after his loan spell ended at Real Sociedad. The former Celtic full back signed for £25million in 2019, having won four top flight titles in Scotland.

In the campaigns that followed, he established himself as a first-team regular in north London, but was shipped out to Spain by Mikel Arteta in the summer of 2023.

After being usurped by Oleksandr Zinchenko in the 2022-23 season, his prospects of returning regularly to the fold seemingly dwindled further amid Jurrien Timber’s arrival and the form of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior in the last campaign, with Tierney himself making 14 La Liga starts.

The Scottish international was previously touted as a club leader by manger Mikel Arteta, who said in 2021: “I think he can be captain, because he has the respect and the admiration of every member of the staff and every player.”

Pressed about his composed style of play, the Spaniard added: “It’s just the way he is, he does it in a natural way.”

But now The Sunday Post is reporting that just £10m will be enough for Arsenal to sanction a sale. The Scottish Premier League champions have been linked with bringing him back to Glasgow, while a number of Premier League clubs are also reportedly interested.

Sociedad are reportedly able to activate a £20m clause to turn last season’s temporary move into a permanent one. But an offer has not been forthcoming, and the comments of Tierney in April suggested he fears being left in the cold if he was to return to the Emirates.

“It’s hard to put a finger exactly on the loan move, but just the way things had developed at Arsenal, the way the team was going and what had happened last season with game-time. It probably worked best for both parties that I got out and get a new experience, some game-time.”

Pressed on whether he could become a first team regular again under Arteta, he responded: “You never know in football. It’s probably quite rare that it happens when you come back from a loan.

“Of course, you’ve got circumstances like Saliba where they’ve just come back and I don’t think he’s been out the team since. But it’s maybe a bit different for someone who has played four years already and goes back, but you genuinely never know. Football is a mad place so let’s see what happens.”

Tierney will head to Germany next week with the Scotland squad for Euro 2024. The tournament could yet put him in the shop window for potential buyers, with the Scots kicking off their campaign against the hosts this Friday, June 14.