Kieran Tierney insists he has 'no problem' with being sent on loan to Real Sociedad by Arsenal... as Scotland defender admits falling out of favour forced exit

Kieran Tierney has revealed he has 'no problem' with Arsenal after leaving the Premier League side for Real Sociedad.

The Scotland international completed a season-long loan move to the Basque outfit on Monday after struggling for game time at the Emirates Stadium last term. 

The arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko in north London last summer limited Tierney to just six Premier League starts in the 2022-23 season. 

The 26-year-old was not in the Arsenal squad for the first three league games of this season, and Mikel Arteta has allowed the full-back to make a temporary move to LaLiga.

Arsenal had originally planned to sell Tierney permanently, only for a proposed more to Newcastle United to fall through. 

Speaking at his unveiling in Sociedad, the former Celtic man said: 'I left because [Arsenal] last season I couldn’t play a lot and what I wanted was to play a lot of games and I wanted to try to do it at Real Sociedad.

‘I don’t have any problem with Arsenal. Knowing that Real Sociedad wanted to have me here, feeling all the love from the people here was very good.

‘Being in the Basque Country, having the experience of living here and playing in La Liga, is something I am very proud of. I hope things will go very well for me here.'

Tierney established himself as a popular figure at Arsenal following a £25million move from Celtic in 2019, making 124 appearances over the last four seasons.

However, a series of injury problems have dogged his time at the club, meaning Arteta and sporting director Edu were willing to cut ties this summer.

The left-back revealed that Gunners captain Martin Odegaard advised him on the move to Sociedad after the Norwegian spent time on loan at the club in the 2019-20 season. 

Tierney said: 'Martin [Odegaard] said the fans and people are so good and really welcoming and you will love your time here.

‘The club is in a good place, especially over the last few seasons and this season the Champions League, so it is an amazing club.'