Arsenal were back in action at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening, as they followed up their pre-season tour of the USA with a friendly against German champions Bayer Leverkusen.
Goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, and Kai Havertz helped the Gunners to an impressive win over Xabi Alonso’s side, with just a friendly against Lyon on Sunday to come before the new Premier League campaign begins with a home clash against Wolves on Saturday, August 17.
New £42million summer singing Riccardo Calafiori was not named in the squad as he gets up to speed with his new teammates, but it was the omission of another player that caught the eye of Gunners fans at the Emirates.
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Full-back Kieran Tierney has not played for Arsenal for more than a year after spending last season on loan at Real Sociedad and the hamstring injury he suffered with Scotland at Euro 2024 meant he was unlikely to feature this week.
But supporters spotted that the 27-year-old’s name was not even included in the matchday programme’s squad list. Tierney was the only senior first-team player not listed, casting doubts on his Gunners future.
Tierney moved to Sociedad last season in order to play regular football after struggling with injuries, but again had to deal with hamstring and adductor issues, making just 20 appearances in La Liga.
The defender has two years remaining on his current Arsenal deal, but the Gunners are well stocked when it comes to the left-back position, with the likes of Calafiori, Zinchenko, Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior all able to play in that role.
The likes of Aston Villa, Newcastle and his former club Celtic have been linked with a move for Tierney in recent transfer windows.
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