Arsenal have been urged to keep hold of Newcastle target Kieran Tierney

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Newcastle United have a strong interest in Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney and are weighing up a summer move for the Scotland international.

A fee of around £30million has been mooted for the 25-year-old who has fallen down the pecking order under Mikel Arteta following the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko in the summer.

Now former Arsenal right-back, Lauren has suggested that Arsenal should keep hold of Tierney for squad depth purposes. Speaking to SportingPost, the Cameroonian said: “I don’t see why he should go. If Arsenal don’t need the money, why would you sell him? He’s a very good player. We saw it against Spain in the recent international for Scotland and he played very well. He understands the ideas of Arteta now – rather than being in the wide areas, tucking inside and being like another midfield player, receiving the ball from the centre backs and then starting the moves from there.

Lauren thinks Arsenal should hold on to Tierney for squad depth

“You need everyone and you need Kieran to be in the squad. You never know from now, anything can happen with injuries and he needs to be focused and to play the way he is being asked by Arteta. For next year it depends on what he wants. If he wants to be in a team week-in, week-out then it’s his decision. But for Arsenal you need the bigger squad and they should keep him.”

It does seem that playing time is the big issue for Tierney and that’s why he’s considering a move away from the Gunners. Newcastle would be the ideal destination for him. The Magpies are a team on the ascendency, looking more and more likely to be able to offer Champions League football and, perhaps more importantly, is a lot closer to home.

I don’t think there’s any doubting Tierney’s ability, you just have to look at all the praise lavished on him after the recent international break where he was called ‘immense‘ amongst other superlatives. However, there are reservations about the deal from the Newcastle faithful due to his injury record. Tierney’s missed a lot of football through injury which is always a cause for concern when looking at signing a player.

Tierney is a better attacking option than what Newcastle have right now

When fit there’s no doubt he’d be a fantastic addition to the Newcastle squad and would more than likely walk into the starting lineup ahead of Matt Targett and Dan Burn. He’s a lot more comfortable going forward than the options we currently have which is what Eddie Howe is after.

Personally, I think his injury record is worth the risk. We have adequate cover in Burn and Targett for when he’s unavailable, and what he’ll bring to us when he’s fit will more than make up for when he’s out. I still hope this one happens.