Kieran Tierney is set to miss the remainder of the Premier League season through surgery on a knee injury, according to a report.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND: Kieran Tierney of Scotland celebrates after scoring their side's first goal during the international friendly match between Scotland and Poland at Hampden Park on March 24, 2022. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND: Kieran Tierney of Scotland celebrates after scoring their side’s first goal during the international friendly match between Scotland and Poland at Hampden Park on March 24, 2022. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports that Kieran Tierney has been ruled out for the rest of the season, as he’s set to have surgery on a knee injury later this week.

The left-back will miss several months of action, and there are even doubts over whether he’ll be fit in time for Scotland’s World Cup qualifiers in June.

Mikel Arteta previously explained how they came to learn of Tierney’s latest injury.

“He came back from international duty and felt something wrong in his knee,” Arteta said.

“He felt something in training, had a scan and there’s damage.

“He’s seeing a specialist on Tuesday, but it isn’t looking good.”

Those fears have unfortunately proven legitimate, with Tierney set to play no part in the remainder of Arsenal’s campaign.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Kieran Tierney of Arsenal breaks away from Daniel Podence of Woverhampton Wanderers during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Emirates Stadium on February 24, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Kieran Tierney of Arsenal breaks away from Daniel Podence of Woverhampton Wanderers during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Emirates Stadium on February 24, 2022. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The impact of Tierney’s injury has obviously been compounded by Nuno Tavares’ dip in form in 2022.

The 22-year-old made a strong start to his Arsenal career, and he even looked to have edged Tierney out of the side for a while. Yet he’s only made two starts this calendar year, and he was substituted off before the start of the second half in both cases.

Arsenal really need the left-back to return to form now, because playing Granit Xhaka out of position at full-back just creates new problems to solve in midfield – particularly if Thomas Partey is out injured too.

It’s a headache for Mikel Arteta, and a problem that feels very avoidable, given Tierney really didn’t need to play 180 minutes in two friendlies for Scotland. Now he’ll likely miss games that actually matter for club and country.