Why Arsenal want Oleksandr Zinchenko as worrying Kieran Tierney injury insight emerges

Arsenal: Kieran Tierney discusses his relationship with Arteta

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Kieran Tierney is still struggling to adapt to Arsenal’s training methods and the Premier League, claims former Gunners and England physio Gary Lewin. Tierney has often been hampered with injury problems since joining Arsenal in 2019 and Lewin’s insight shows why Mikel Arteta is set to bring Oleksandr Zinchenko in this window.

The Scotland international arrived at the Emirates after undergoing a double hernia operation that summer. He has since had spells on the sidelines with shoulder, groin, knee and ankle injuries.

Tierney is yet to make more than 27 Premier League appearances in a season. Despite being at Arsenal for three years now, Lewin says it is clear the 25-year-old has still not adapted fully.

He told talkSPORT: “It’s a combination of a lot of things, really. You can’t say that the Scottish Premiership isn’t physical, so you think he’d adjust quite quickly so I think it’s adjusting to a new team, a new way of training, a new style and a lot of players do get that.”

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Tierney was taken off after 30 minutes of the 5-3 friendly win over FC Nurnberg earlier this month. It was his first outing since March following a knee operation.

Lewin says Tierney’s involvement in Germany would have been planned. However, he can see why Arsenal are bringing in a new left-back, with a deal of £30million agreed with Manchester City for Zinchenko.

Lewin added: “Regarding the 30 minutes that he played last week, I think that was pre-planned because you’re better off with a player who is going to play 30 and bringing them on, because things change in a game and you might end up playing more than you want to. All clubs are doing the same thing at the moment.

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“They’re individually planning players’ pre-season return to play and I think you’ll see a lot of this during the whole of the pre-season training. Clubs are continually assessing what they’ve got and there will be medical involvement, but ultimately it’s a football decision.

“All clubs will strengthen in areas where they think they need strengthening. Last year Arsenal had the issue that when Tierney was injured, they had to fill the left position with players out of position, so I don’t think it’s a complete surprise that they’re looking to strengthen that, but I think you could argue that across all clubs.

“They’ll be looking to strengthen and tweak their squad across the whole pre-season and transfer window.”

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