Kieran Tierney’s knee problem became clear last season after he felt it collapse when coming out of the shower following an Arsenal training session.
Tierney missed the final 10 games of the Gunners’ campaign after he felt pain in his knee in April. The Scottish full-back has struggled with injuries since joining the club from Celtic in a £25million transfer in July 2019.
The 25-year-old damaged knee cartilage initially in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Wolves on February 24, but did not notice it. He played another four matches for Mikel Arteta’s side, and two friendlies for Scotland, before the problem reared its head in an unusual setting.
“The Wolves game, he had a hyper-extension injury, finished the game, didn't mention it and then played the next five games with no problems whatsoever,” Arsenal doctor Gary O’Driscoll said in the penultimate episode of Prime Video series Arsenal: All Or Nothing . “But he then walked out of the shower on Thursday after training, turned a corner, bent his knee and felt the knee collapse.”
Tierney has previously explained how an innocuous moment against Wolves turned into surgery and a 12-week absence. He was unable to play for Arsenal, who missed out on a top-four place in the Premier League, or feature for Scotland during their efforts to qualify for the World Cup, which ended in a defeat by Ukraine in a play-off in June.
“I carried on playing for Arsenal, then reported for Scotland duty [in March] and played twice with no problems. I came back completely fine. Then I was doing some leg exercises in the gym and my left knee clicked,” Tierney told The Sun.
“I instinctively felt it wasn't right and that I should probably go for a scan. I wasn't in any great pain. I'd played for Arsenal and we'd been winning, then for Scotland I got a goal and an assist. So there had been nothing to worry about after that Wolves match.
“But the scan result came back and suddenly I'm needing an op. It was so unfortunate. But after that click I just knew it wasn't normal. The verdict was 12 weeks, and it was gutting when I realised the games I'd miss for Arsenal and Scotland. However, there was nothing I could do about it.”
Tierney has missed 48 games for Arsenal due to injury, according to Transfermarkt. While Nuno Tavares and Granit Xhaka filled in at left-back for him last season, this season has seen Oleksandr Zinchenko take his place.
Arteta has been careful with Tierney so far this season, using him as a substitute in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace and the 4-2 victory against Leicester City. He may feature when the Gunners travel to the south coast looking to make it three successive wins against Bournemouth on Saturday.
