Newcastle could now sign 'incredible' defender for £20m less than club asked for last year

This time last year there was no end of speculation about who Newcastle United would turn to to full the left-back position.

Matt Targett signed on a permanent deal in 2022 then his body went on strike and he spent more time in the physio room than he did on the pitch leaving Eddie Howe with the task of finding someone to cover for him.

While Newcastle eventually signed Lewis Hall from Chelsea on an initial season-long loan with a £28million obligation to buy, one name that kept coming up was Kieran Tierney of Arsenal.

The former Celtic left-back had some outstanding performances for The Bhoys and Arsenal but his career was hampered by a string of injury problems.

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Kieran Tierney ended up on loan at Real Sociedad last season

Last year Arsenal were demanding £30million for the Scotland international and Newcastle were refusing to pay up, ultimately moving on to Lewis Hall.

Tierney ended up joining Real Sociedad on loan where he made 27 appearances in all competitions popping up with two assists.

Three separate injury spells hampered his season, however, proving many Newcastle fans right after they protested that he was not worth £30million as he could never play a full season.

Arsenal would now take £10million for Tierney

It seems that Arsenal have now realised this and, according to The Chronicle, The Gunners will ask just £10million for him this summer. It's quite a fall from grace for the 27-year-old who is likely to be involved in action for Scotland on Friday night as they get Euro 2024 underway as they take on hosts, Germany.

Former Scotland international Stephen O'Donnell has spoken up about his fellow countryman wondering what's gone wrong at Arsenal.

"Kieran, if he stays fit, is one of the best full-backs in the world, without question. He is a top player, a top guy and if he is playing we will certainly be a better outfit with him. He has great qualities. I still found it a bit strange what happened to him at Arsenal. Obviously, I wasn't there, but he was one of their players of the year the season before and then he goes out on loan to Sociedad.

"When he first broke through at Celtic he was incredible and to then move on and go where he's been is great. At one point he was linked with Real Madrid and that was maybe a 'what if' moment if he managed to stay fit, but you can't have everything. I'm honestly really delighted to see him back and see him going to the Euros. Hopefully we see him kick on."

We expect Newcastle to part ways with Matt Targett this summer and with Eddie Howe still not 100% on Lewis Hall and Dan Burn proving that he's much better as a central defender than a left back, we wonder if Newcastle may rekindle their interest now that Tierney could be available on the cheap.

Or would we just be replacing one injury-prone fullback with another?