According to Birmingham Live, Aston Villa are reportedly interested in signing Kieran Tierney from Arsenal at the end of this season. The Villans are looking to bring in some decent reinforcements into the backline, and the Scotland international remains a potential target this summer.
However, the Scottish defender has reportedly said that he would only move to a club that qualifies for the European competitions as he wishes to compete at the highest level.
Tierney’s Growing Struggles In Arsenal So Far This Season
Tierney is having a difficult campaign at the Emirates Stadium as he has fallen behind Oleksandr Zinchenko in Mikel Arteta’s pecking order. The 25-year-old has only managed to find the back of the net on one occasion in 27 matches for the Gunners this season across all fronts.
The Scottish sensation has mostly come off the bench as an impact substitute which explains why he is only averaging 0.6 tackles, 0.5 interceptions, 0.8 clearances, 0.3 shots and 0.2 key passes per game in the Premier League. However, he has managed to distribute the ball relatively well after completing 77.8% of his attempted passes in top-flight football (stats via whoscored).
His current contract at the North London club is set to run out in the summer of 2026. Therefore, it won’t be easy for Aston Villa to land Tierney on the cheap this summer.
Should Unai Emery Bring Him To Aston Villa?
Tierney is a solid tackler of the ball and can make a few timely interceptions for his side when he is playing regularly and with confidence on the pitch. He doesn’t mind clearing the danger when needed and can provide decent support from the wide areas.
The 35-time Scotland international can make a few energetic runs down the left flank but needs to work on being more productive in the final third. Tierney is primarily a left-back but remains versatile to function as a left-sided wide player or as a centre-back if his manager asks him to do so. We can expect Tierney to add more quality to Aston Villa‘s defensive department, and he could bring more competition to the backline as well.
Hence, the West midlands club would be wise to engineer a move to bring him on board during the summer transfer window. However, Unai Emery would have to do a lot of convincing and might have to offer him a starting position in order to acquire his signature. Still, the Villans’ bid could carry more weight if they successfully finish in the top seven places of the League table.
