Nicklas Bendtner

Arsenal legend Lee Dixon has heaped praised on Kieran Tierney, who ended his debut season on a positive note. The Scotland international joined the north London giants from Celtic last summer but he did not make his debut in the Premier League until late October as he was recovering from a double hernia operation.

However, within the space of six weeks, he dislocated his shoulder in the Premier League clash at West Ham United and that meant that he was once again on the sidelines. He was likely to make his comeback during the month of March, but that did not happen after the unexpected break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He was extensively involved for the Gunners from the restart in June and ended the season by winning the FA Cup. Tierney played in different positions including the central defence ad left wing-back role, but he managed to catch the eye with his defensive contributions and was consistent with his displays.

That has seen him likened to former Arsenal great Nigel Winterburn and Dixon has heaped praise on the young defender, who has shown a tireless workrate, he told: “Kieran has been likened to Nigel Winteburn and that’s a great thing to have on your CV. He’s got that hunger, that desire, that willingness to run all day. That should be a given but sometimes it isn’t.
“We look at players today and we are sometimes critical of their effort. The fact Kieran has that plus the way Mikel Arteta wants him to play. I was really impressed with him when he first came. He then obviously got the injuries. I hadn’t seen a lot of Kieran before he arrived but a friend of mine is a big Celtic fan and he talked about how he would come through bad games.”
Arsenal are expected to make changes to the squad ahead of next season and there are suggestions that Arteta could revert to the 4-2-3-1 formation next term. That would see Tierney play in the traditional left-back role and could bring the best out of him going forward.