Arsenal boosted with return of key defender to training ahead of new season

Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney has returned to individual training at the club’s London Colney training base ahead of the start of the new season.

The Scottish defender picked up a knee injury in April and missed Arsenal’s run in to last season, with the club ultimately missing out on Champions League football to rivals Tottenham.

At that time, the defender was one of the top performers at the club and his absence and that of midfielder Thomas Partey hit Mikel Arteta’s side so hard they never really recovered from it.

To avoid a similar drop in form due to injuries, Arteta and Arsenal have wasted little time this transfer window and added the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, and Oleksandr Zinchenko to try and minimise the impact of future injuries.

But the entire Arsenal squad had a smile on their faces on Tuesday afternoon when they caught sight of Tierney working out on his own and looking very sharp.

The Gunners have been impressive in preseason and are looking to start the season sharply.

The 4-0 thumping of Chelsea has raised hopes amongst fans going into the season, and they will now host Sevilla in the final pre-season game before heading to Crystal Palace under the lights for a tricky first match of the new campaign.

Competition at left-back awaits Tierney with the signing of Zinchenko

The left-back position is now hotting up with the signing of Zinchenko, who can either play on the left side of midfield or slot in at left back like Granit Xhaka did at the end of last season.

But Tierney will feel that he is still the best left-back in the team and should get game time, even though there will be competition for places.

There is also the matter of the Europa League which will test the entire squad with the extra games on Thursday night.