Newcastle United have been dealt a potential blow in their pursuit of Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney.

Internal discussions regarding the player’s future at Arsenal have taken place with Newcastle strongly linked with a move as Eddie Howe targets left-back additions to his squad.

The 26-year-old made just six Premier League starts for Arsenal last season following the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Man City. Even in Zinchenko’s absence at the back end of the 2022-23 campaign, Tierney only started one of Arsenal’s final seven matches.

Newcastle have targeted Tierney as a potential left-back addition this summer with Arsenal wanting in excess of £30million for the Scotland international. The Gunners paid £25million to Celtic to sign Tierney back in 2019 with the Scottish Premiership side understood to have a 15% sell-on clause.

And according to The Mirror, Tierney is keen on returning to his former club on what would be a cut-price deal as a result of Celtic’s sell-on clause. The report also claims the Scottish international would be willing to take a significant wage cut in order to return to Parkhead this summer.

The left-back position has been targeted as a key area to strengthen this summer with Dan Burn playing the majority of the 2022-23 campaign in the position despite being a more natural centre-back. Matt Targett, Paul Dummett, Javier Manquillo and Matt Ritchie can also play in the position, as can starting right-back Kieran Trippier.

But with the long-term futures of Targett, Dummett, Manquillo and Ritchie all uncertain, the club are understood to have made an important decision regarding the position.