Kieran Tierney has been told to avoid chucking his toys out the pram and instead go toe-to-toe with peers in his mission to become an Arsenal regular again.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has been the Gunners' number one left-back this season after arriving from Man City last summer, leading to rumours that the Celtic hero could be on his way out of London after initially joining in 2019. He was again on the bench against the Citizens as Pep Guardiola's juggernaut steamrollered Mikel Arteta's side 4-1 on Wednesday to go two points behind the Premier League leaders with two games in hand.
Arsenal favourite Bacary Sagna knows the predicament Tierney is in, as he was in thee same situation under Arsene Wenger. He went on to have seven years at The Emirates and the Frenchman tells SportingPost that all it will take to win a spot in Arteta's heart and team is endeavour and mental resilience. He said: "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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