Arsenal report: Real Madrid scouts impressed by Kieran Tierney
The Scotland defender has caught the eye of the Spanish giants
Arsenal and Scotland defender Kieran Tierney has caught the attention of Real Madrid, according to reports.
The former Celtic man piqued the interest of Madrid scouts who were originally looking at his Gunners team-mate Bakayo Saka, 90Min reports.
The Merengues spent a month analysing the left-back at the start of the year and he’s now on their defensive shortlist after impressing with his versatility.
Tierney is a natural left-back, but the 24-year-old has also featured at centre-back and played in three and four-man defences.
Madrid are now considering a summer bid after chief scout Juni Calafat took a look at the Scot and liked what he saw.
Tierney is unlikely to be the only departure at the Emirates this summer should he go, as the Express writes that a 13-man exodus is expected at the end of the season.
Bernd Leno, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Alexandre Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah, Hector Bellerin, Pablo Mari, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Lucas Torreira, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Matteo Guendouzi, Reiss Nelson and Alex Runarsson are the players who could be heading to the exit door.
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Mikel Arteta has overseen a big change of the guard at the Gunners, bringing in a host of young players and offloading the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil.
The bold moves have paid off this season, with Arsenal currently on course to return to the Champions League.
Arteta’s side are fourth, one point ahead of Manchester United behind them but with three games in hand.
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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.