Newcastle plotting move for "phenomenal" Arsenal star who has fallen out of favour under Arteta

Newcastle are plotting a move for Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney, according to reports.

Tierney arrived at the Emirates in 2019 from Celtic in a deal worth around £25million.

He became a mainstay under former manager Unai Emery, with fans calling for the Scotsman to be awarded the captain's armband.

However, the 25-year-old has fallen out of favour under Mikel Arteta this term, playing just one minute of Arsenal's last five Premier League games.

A plague of injuries have hindered his progress in north London, after he was forced to undergo knee surgery at the back end of last season.

Meanwhile, the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City in the summer has drastically limited Tierney's minutes, with the Ukranian establishing himself as Arteta's first choice left-back this season.

As a result, Tierney, who was described as "phenomenal" by legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, may seek to leave in favour of first team football this summer.

Tierney linked with Newcastle move

According to FootballInsider, Tierney's lack of game time has attracted interest from Newcastle, with the north-east club said to be 'closely monitoring' the defender.

The report also states that Eddie Howe is in the market for a left-back this summer, and Tierney is on their radar.

The Scotland international, reportedly valued at around £26million, was also the subject of interest from Italy.

Juventus and Inter Milan were keen to sign him in January, as per Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb.

In Juve's case, they were after competition and a potential long-term successor for Brazil left-back Alex Sandro, who turned 32 last month.

However, The Old Lady's 15-point deduction for financial irregularities within their transfer dealings is likely to see their focus shift elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Simone Inzaghi's Inter regularly fields a five-player defence, meaning Tierney could be utilised as more of an attacking wing-back if he was to move to the San Siro.

Although it is suspected that Tierney may want to stay closer to his home of Glasgow.

Speaking to Arsenal’s official website last month, Tierney discussed the challenges of living away from home.

He stated: “It’s not been difficult to stay in touch, but the hardest part is you don’t see each other every day."