Arsenal: Mikel Arteta takes risk to sell £30m defender to league rival

Arsenal fell at the final hurdle in the Premier League, despite giving their supporters and everybody else hope that they can lift the title and take it from Manchester City. Although, on the positive side of that, Mikel Arteta’s army proved they have what it takes to compete with teams as elite as City, they just need to improve in some areas such as squad depth.

The defence is what let them down the most come the end of the season. The injury to Saliba was unfortunate, yes, but it shouldn’t have prevented the Gunners from winning the league like it did. This is why signing some new defensive recruits will be of utmost importance to Arteta.

One defensive player who has struggled to make the ranks this season is Kieran Tierney. Despite a couple of injuries to his superior Oleksandr Zinchenko, Arteta made several controversial calls to not start Tierney and play another person out of position. This leads many to believe that the Scotsman played his last game in Arsenal red on Sunday afternoon, even then starting from the bench.

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Mikel Arteta “happy” to sell Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney

According to the latest report from Football Insider, Arsenal are “happy” to sell Kieran Tierney to Newcastle United this summer. As far as Mikel Arteta is concerned, it removes a weak link from his team who probably wouldn’t have started anyway, frees up some wages and adds to his transfer allocation.

It’s a cruel situation given everything Tierney has done for the club. Let’s not forget, he’s one of the players who stuck through the club’s worst period and still put in his utmost effort each week. However, this is the reality – he wouldn’t have started anyway since he’s not an Arteta style player. Therefore, selling him is the wisest choice but to strengthen a league rival in Newcastle? Not so wise.

What do you make of Arsenal selling Kieran Tierney to Newcastle?