Kieran Tierney has been urged to stay at Arsenal and 'fight' to play after finding himself 'out of his comfort zone'.
The Celtic diehard has struggled for regular English Premier League minutes at the Gunners this season with summer recruit Oleksandr Zinchenko the preferred option by former Rangers midfielder and Emirates boss Mikel Arteta. His lack of match minutes has led to plenty of talk over his future in North London.
Newcastle United - on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League next season - have been strongly linked with a big money move for the Scotland international with boss Eddie Howe believed to be a big fan of the left-back. However, former Arsenal star Bacary Sagna has questioned why Tierney would want to leave what is becoming 'one of the best clubs in England' and says the time has now come to fight and not just leave and give up.
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He believes leaving and going to a club that guarantees playing week in, week out is not going to help him progress further. He reckons the full-back needs to be out of his comfort zone and challenge himself to rise up and claim the jersey back.
The Frenchman told SportingPost: "I wouldn't leave the club. He needs to fight to play and come back into the manager's plan. He is part of what's becoming one of the best clubs in England, so where is he going to go?
"Of course you want to be able to play but sometimes you need to be out of your comfort zone, and he's out of his comfort zone now. So it's time to fight, not just leave and give up.
"What's the point of going somewhere where you know that you're going to start no matter what, and you're going to play - you're not going to progress in that environment. I had the same choice when I left Arsenal, because I was playing in a comfortable position.
"I could have stayed and yes, I was playing. But at some point, if you want to try and get better and you want to challenge yourself, you need to be out of your comfort zone.
"Zinchenko is giving him a challenge to fight for his place, so he has to train harder and get back to his very best level so he gets his opportunity and then he has to take it. If he does that he won’t be spending so much time on the bench."
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