Newcastle United & Aston Villa target pictured at Champions League club ahead of summer transfer

The 25-year-old was heavily linked with a move to Newcastle United this summer but Arsenal stood firm on their £30million-plus valuation of the player and were reluctant to loan him to a Premier League rival.

Having reached an impasse with The Gunners, Newcastle turned their attention to Chelsea youngster Lewis Hall. The Magpies swooped in and completed a loan move for the 18-year-old with an obligation to buy the left-back at the end of the 2023-24 season for £28million.

But with Tierney falling out of favour under Mikel Arteta, he has chosen to leave the club in pursuit of more regular game time. He has been pictured at Real Sociedad ahead of a season-long loan.

Real Sociedad will compete alongside Newcastle and Arsenal in this season’s Champions League. Tierney had also been targeted by Aston Villa and his former club Celtic but a deal failed to materialise.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has claimed the Scottish international’s loan to Sociedad will not include an option to make the deal permanent.

This comes just a week after Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta claimed there were no plans for Tierney to leave the club this transfer window following an injury to new signing Jurrien Timber.

“There are not any plans in doing anything like that,” Arteta said. “[Timber’s injury] is an opportunity for everybody. We’re going to need everybody, and everybody is going to be important.

“The numbers that we have in the squad, especially in those positions [left-back], are more limited now. He played in the final [Community Shield]. So a player that plays in the final is part of the plans for sure.”