Newcastle United have been heavily linked with a move for Kieran Tierney this summer and now a new update has emerged on the club's pursuit of the player.
What's the latest on Newcastle's interest in Kieran Tierney?
According to iNews northern football correspondent Mark Douglas, Newcastle have laid the groundwork to sign the Arsenal defender this summer.
As per a report for the publication, Douglas claims that Aston Villa are also interested in securing the services of Tierney during the transfer window, but Newcastle remain keen to sign him alongside Leicester City attacker James Maddison.
Who would Tierney replace in the Newcastle team?
Eddie Howe boasts an impressive squad at St James' Park with the side showing incredible resilience and quality to achieve a top-four finish and qualify for the Champions League next season.
Whilst many of Newcastle's first-team talent will likely retain their roles going into next season there will be no room for sentiment when it comes to bolstering key positions and adding higher-quality players into the fold to ensure the side can compete comfortably on the domestic and European stages.
As a result, the signing of Tierney could be a great opportunity to add some great depth to the left-back role to present competition to Dan Burn and Matt Targett over next season whilst also obtaining a player who has strong Premier League and European experience.
Despite falling out of favour at the Emirates due to the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko, the £110k-per-week ace boasts unrivalled experience in his position with 60 appearances tallied up in the Europe League and Champions League so far, as well as 91 English top-flight appearances too.
When comparing Tierney to his positional peer Targett this season, it is clear that the Gunners man has outperformed in many attributes including goal contributions (1 v 0), tackles and interceptions won (31 v 22), percentage of dribblers tackled (75% v 37.5%) and progressive carries (25 v 3), despite averaging six minutes less per appearance.
The Scotland international has been the recipient of high praise over his impressive career so far, with legendary England full-back Ashley Cole complimenting Tierney's impact on Arsenal when fit and available selection:
"When he’s in the team, they are a different team, he’s willing to defend, he’s that kind of leader and warrior they need in this team.
"He’s got those leadership qualities which are needed along with the younger players in there. When he doesn’t play they miss him on he left."
With that being said, the signing of Tierney – who was dubbed an "upgrade" on Howe's current left-back options – at the right price would be a big coup for Newcastle to provide them with a quality left-back who can push his positional competitors next season.