Inside perplexing Kieran Tierney Arsenal snub as 'really strange' axeing from Arteta gnaws at Celtic mate

Former Celtic star Kris Commons admits he's been left scratching his head over Kieran Tierney's reduced role at Arsenal.

The 25-year-old has found himself a bit-part player at the Emirates with Saturday night's benching against Nottingham Forest left Tony Adams among others miffed. Tierney was a key contributor under Mikel Arteta before this campaign but lost his starting left back berth to Oleksandr Zinchenko. But the real worry has been the likes of auxiliary Arsenal options like Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior earning starts ahead of him.

Commons cannot put his finger why Tierney has been left on the outside looking in but he is under no doubt his old Parkhead pal will return to his former glories. Speaking in his Daily Mail column, Commons said: "Knowing him as I do, I can vouch that Tierney is a born leader. Whether it's Celtic, Arsenal or Scotland, he always plays for the jersey and puts his heart and soul into every performance. He's a winner. He doesn't do half-measures. Even in his breakthrough season with Celtic, I remember watching him in training and just being in awe to be honest. In his first session back after recovering from a broken leg, he was absolutely flying into tackles and getting stuck into the more senior players.

"That full-blooded commitment is something which has stayed with him throughout his career and it remains one of his biggest assets. But, from being touted as a future captain of the Gunners only a year ago, it now looks increasingly likely that Tierney will leave the club in the summer. Arsenal have some serious injury problems in defence at the moment, with William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko both out of action. The absence of centreback Saliba, in particular, has been a