WHAT HAPPENED? After battling for playing time at the Emirates Stadium last season, the Scotland international completed a season-long loan transfer to the Basque team. Tierney only made six Premier League starts in 2022–23 due to Oleksandr Zinchenko's summer move to north London. Tierney revealed that Gunners captain Martin Odegaard had encouraged him on the decision to join Sociedad after the Norwegian spent time on loan at the club during the 2019–20 season,

WHAT WAS SAID?: Following the move, Tierney talked to club media: "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."

"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."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Following a £25 million transfer from Celtic in 2019, Tierney became a well-liked character at Arsenal, making 124 appearances in the preceding four seasons. Arteta and sports director Edu were ready to part ways this summer, however, a string of physical issues had hampered his stint at the club.

Tierney was supposed to be permanently sold by Arsenal, but a deal with Newcastle United that had been arranged instead fell through.

IN TWO PHOTOS:GettyGetty Images

WHAT NEXT FOR TIERNEY? The Scot is expected to make his debut for La Real on Saturday, September 2 against Granada at the Anoeta.