Tierney has admitted that he was not surprised when Arsenal signed Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City this summer.
When fit, the Scottish left-back has been a regular under Mikel Arteta, but he now faces competition from new £32m signing Zinchenko, who spent the majority of his six years on the books at the Etihad.
As Tierney recovers from knee surgery, Zinchenko has been the starter for much of pre-season, and the Scot admitted that bringing in competition for minutes was the right move for a club with Arsenal’s ambitions.
Tierney responded in an interview with the Daily Mail when asked if Arteta spoke to him before signing Zinchenko.
“No, but I’m not surprised because I’ve never had that. At a club like Arsenal, you need competition.
“For where we want to go, you need at least two players for each position. He is a great signing.”
He added: “Genuinely, I love [competition]. I love being up against it. I’m coming back from injury. I know I’ll need to work my way back. But I’m ready.”
Tierney insisted he is ‘ready to go’ after working on recovering his fitness during the summer and admitted that avoiding injuries is a big part of his goals for the upcoming campaign.
“Personally, staying fit, getting a run of games, finding form,” he named as his targets. “Collectively, getting into the Champions League and winning a trophy.
“The signings have been amazing, like Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City. The first thing I said to him was: ‘I hated playing against you!’.
“So I’m buzzing he’s on our team now. There is a feeling in the camp, a different hunger, a different desire. Even the 6-0 win over Sevilla on Saturday. It’s a pre-season friendly but you can only beat what’s in front of you. We’ve got enough to be optimistic this season.”
Supercomputer predicts Arsenal to finish 5th
BetVictor’s supercomputer has attempted to predict where they will finish by the end of the proceedings. Tottenham is currently the highest-scoring team from the capital, finishing third with 81 points.
Chelsea is fourth, claiming the final Champions League spot. Thomas Tuchel’s team is expected to score 77 points this season.
As a result, Arsenal are expected to finish fifth and miss out on the Champions League once more. While they missed out on a top four finish by just two points last season, the supercomputer predicts a 12-point gap this season.
