Left-back Kieran Tierney has said his Arsenal future is not up to him but that he is happy at the north London club.
The 26-year-old has been a key player for the Premier League side since his arrival from Celtic in 2019, but saw his game time reduced during the previous campaign following the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City. He has since been linked with a move to Newcastle United.
Tierney did, however, still feature in 36 matches across all competitions last season and says he will always remain committed every time he plays for Mikel Arteta’s side.
He said: “It’s not really up to me (my future). I’m happy, I’m working hard every day and getting minutes. I’m just trying to do as well as I can.
“No (I have not had conversations with Arteta).
“You can’t play every single game, every single season, every single year. I don’t expect that and I still made a lot of appearances last year.
“I was ready every game and working 100 per cent. I think everyone in there would agree with that, that I never give less than that whether I’m playing or not.
“In the games I did play I tried to do my best for the team. I came off the bench a lot last season, whether that was to see games out or help get a goal.”
Arsenal have been busy so far in this summer’s transfer market following the arrivals of Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice.
Rice, a £105million signing from West Ham United, has already settled in with his new team-mates, according to Tierney.
“Declan actually said the other day he feels like he’s been here for so long,” he said. “It’s such a close group, great team-mates, great staff so I think they’re all loving it (the new players).
“We’ve had a few songs. Declan gave us Ice, Ice Baby as he always does.
“They’ve integrated really well and we’ve done team activities together. It’s been just what the new boys needed.”
Arsenal next play Barcelona at SoFi Stadium, California on July 27 as part of their pre-season tour across the U.S following a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United in New Jersey.
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