"What I wanted was to play a lot of games" - Arsenal star explans why he left the club on-loan this season

Arsenal star Kieran Tierney spoke about his decision to join Real Sociedad on loan in the summer transfer window. The Scottish full-back outlined that the desire to have more playing time played a crucial role in his decision.

With Oleksandr Zinchenko in the ranks, Tierney has struggled for game time. Last season, the left-back made 36 appearances across competitions, only 12 of which came as starters in the playing XI.

He has now moved o with his career and has decided to join Real Sociedad on loan. Speaking about his decision to join the Basque club, Tierney said (via GOAL):

"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."

He added:

"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."

The 26-year-old joined the north London club in 2019 and made 124 appearances for the team. He scored five goals and provided 14 assists across competitions for the Gunners. Whether Tierney has a future at the club after returning from loan remains to be seen.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke about the upcoming clash against Manchester United

Arsenal have a blockbuster clash coming up as the Gunners take on Manchester United in a Premier League showdown on September 3. Mikel Arteta spoke about the importance of the game.

The magnitude of the clash between the two sides is always a massive one. Speaking about the blockbuster showdown, Arteta told the media ahead of the game (via the Gunners' website):

"We know the history between the two clubs and the games that we had in the past. They were a really good example so it’s going to be a really competitive match and a big battle on Sunday. Obviously we want to come away from that with three points."

Arsenal have so far won two of their first three league games of the season and are fifth on the league table with seven points on the board. A win against United will give the Gunners a massive boost ahead of the international break.