Arsenal star included in Champions League squad despite not playing for a year
Arsenal have named a familiar but surprising player in their Champions League squad list.
Scottish left-back Kieran Tierney has been included in the Gunners’ 23-man list for Europe’s top tier tournament this season, despite not playing for them since August 2023 in the Community Shield.
After that penalty shoot-out win over Manchester City, Tierney headed off to Spain for a season-long loan with Real Sociedad.
The 27-year-old impressed with two goals in 26 appearances for La Real, but wasn’t expected to have much of an impact for Arsenal in the 2024/25 campaign.
Tierney left Euro 2024 on a stretcher due to injury against Switzerland, and was then not used in pre-season by Mikel Arteta.
Three matches into the new campaign and Tierney hasn’t featured in a single matchday squad for Arsenal, but instead has been included in Europe.
Not only does Arteta’s usage of the Scot make his inclusion a surprise, but his summer transfer activity, too.
Arsenal spent £40million to bring in Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna, and the Italian is adept at playing at left-back.
Jurrien Timber, the 2023 signing from Ajax, has also returned from a long-term injury and looks set to be first-choice left-back, while Oleksandr Zinchenko can also fill in.
The news certainly won’t be disappointing to many Arsenal fans with the majority growing to love Tierney following his 2019 signing from Celtic.
Even before leaving for LaLiga on-loan last season, the 2022/23 campaign saw him rack up 36 appearances in all competitions, the tenth-most in Arsenal’s squad.
Nevertheless, his Emirates future is still in question, as he told talkSPORT in April when asked about why he thought he had been loaned.
2
“It’s hard to put a finger on it,” he responded. “But just the way things had developed at Arsenal, the way the team was going and what happened last season with game time.
“It probably worked out best for both parties that I got out, get a new experience – get some game time.
“And when you don’t play, you do lose a bit of your confidence, so to go over here and get that back has been great.”
Other notable players included in Arsenal’s Champions League squad are new loan signing Raheem Sterling, the aforementioned Calafiori and 18-year-old goalkeeper Tommy Setford.
The full squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: David Raya, Norberto Neto, Tommy Setford
Defenders: William Saliba, Kieran Tierney, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, Jurrien Timber, Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Riccardo Calafiori
Midfielders: Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, Jorginho, Mikel Merino, Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling, Declan Rice
Forwards: Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli