Newcastle United and Aston Villa £30m transfer twist as player speaks out on future

Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney has not held talks with Mikel Arteta regarding his future, despite interest from Newcastle United.

The Scotland international is one of the players under consideration at Newcastle on the back of a frustrating campaign at the Emirates Stadium.

Tierney made just six Premier League starts last season - including just two since Boxing Day - with Oleksandr Zinchenko ahead of him in the pecking order.

He’s been heavily tipped to leave North London this summer, four years after joining for £25million from Celtic, but Tierney, who has also attracted interest from Aston Villa, insists his future is out of his hands.

“It’s not really up to me,” said the 26-year-old. “I’ve not had any discussions with the manager and I’m just working hard every day and trying to do as well as I can. I didn’t miss a single game because of injury last season.

“I was available for every match and always ready when called upon. I think everyone would agree that I never give less than 100 percent, whether I’m playing or not.

“You can’t play every single game every year and I don’t expect that. But I still made a lot of appearances last season coming off the bench, whether that was to see games out or help to get a goal, and I did all I could to help.”

Newcastle’s interest in Tierney, who is valued at a reported £30m, has taken a back seat for now as talks continue with Southampton regarding England under-21s full-back Tino Livramento.

Magpies sporting director Dan Ashworth sees Livramento as a future star but so far has yet to negotiate past the Saints’ reported £30m+ asking price.

The 20-year-old moved to the South Coast for just £4m from Chelsea two years ago but has missed 12 months of football because of an ACL injury.