Aston Villa are set to rival Newcastle in the race to sign Kieran Tierney from Arsenal this summer.
Tierney is expected to leave Arsenal after losing his place in the side to Oleksandr Zinchenko this season, with the Scotland international having made just six Premier League starts.
Newcastle have a long-standing interest in the 25-year-old and remain favourites to sign the left-back this summer, but could face competition from Aston Villa according to the Times.
Unai Emery is a big admirer of Tierney and signed the defender for Arsenal from Celtic in 2019. The Spaniard wants to improve his squad after Aston Villa secured qualification for the Europa Conference League and is expected to be backed in the upcoming transfer market.
Villa signed Alex Moreno from Real Betis in January and the Spanish defender has impressed since arriving in the Premier League, but there are doubts over the future of Lucas Digne who has struggled for regular football since Emery’s arrival. Villa have also confirmed that veteran Ashley Young will leave the club when his contract expires this summer.
Newcastle, meanwhile, are preparing for Champions League football next season and have made the signing of a left-back a priority this summer. Dan Burn has featured in the position for much of the campaign and Tierney would provide a more natural left-back option.
