Kieran Tierney has admitted that decisions regarding his future at Arsenal are beyond his control, but he is keen to put the work in and isn't expecting to play every game.
Tierney was a high profile arrival in 2019 when he completed a £25m switch from Celtic. But injuries and then increased competition following last summer's capture of Oleksandr Zinchenko have forced the Scotland international into more of a back-up or rotational role.
Noting his lack of regular starts, a number of clubs have already shown interest in the player. 90min reported in March that Newcastle, West Ham and Aston Villa were monitoriing his situation. Brendan Rodgers, now back at Celtic, is also a big admirer, while had been interested prior to their relegation.
But even potentially now the fourth choice left-back behind Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu, Tierney is willing to fight for regular playing time.
"It's not really up to me [my future]," Tierney said to media during Arsenal's pre-season tour.
"I'm happy, I'm working hard every day and getting minutes. I'm just trying to do as well as I can."
READ THE LATEST ARSENAL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
When asked if he'd held conversations with Arteta regarding his future, the 26-year-old said: "No. You can't play every single game, every single season, every single year. I don't expect that and I still made a lot of appearances last year. I was ready every game and working 100 per cent. I think everyone in there would agree with that, that I never give less than that whether I'm playing or not.
"In the games I did play I tried to do my best for the team. I came off the bench a lot last season, whether that was to see games out or help get a goal."
The return of the aforementioned Rodgers to Celtic has raised the possibility of a reunion in Glasgow. Rodgers previously played a huge role in Tierney's development during his first spell at Parkhead and hasn't ruled out the idea of working together again.
"There's been lots of players linked with here with me coming back. All I know is Kieran is like myself, we loved our time here," he said.
"When I spoke to him down the road in the Premier League, every time we met up all we talked about was Celtic. He's a Celtic man but he's at a fantastic club in Arsenal."
LISTEN NOW TO 90MIN's ARSENAL PODCAST: THE CHRONICLES OF A GOONER
On this edition of The Chronicles of a Gooner, part of the 90min podcast network,Harry Symeouassesses the pre-season defeat to Man Utd, discusses the midfield balance, plus Havertz, Rice, Balogun, Partey and Timber. If you can't see this embed, clickhereto listen to the podcast!
This article was originally published on 90min as Kieran Tierney discusses Arsenal future amid Celtic links.
