Arsenal: Remember that time we signed Kieran Tierney?

Arsenal fans were thrilled to land the services of Kieran Tierney this summer, but since then he’s played 299 minutes. Reset for next year?

If you asked Arsenal fans who the biggest signing of last summer was, you’d get a lot—perhaps even a majority—saying Kieran Tierney. Even with how much money was spent on Nicolas Pepe. We hadn’t had a truly dynamic leftback in a while. Nacho Monreal was steady and reliable, Sead Kolasinac was a wild card.

But to have someone who could could do what Hector Bellerin had been doing on the right, just on the left? That combo was delicious just to think about. He was one of the most highly talked about fullbacks in the world.

This season has been a nightmare for the new signing. He’s played just 299 Premier League minutes and augmented that with 360 Europa League minutes. In that time, he’s already managed two assists and shown us that, in a world where he can stay healthy, we’ll be in good shape.

But that’s the thing. This entire year has been a bust for him, and for us. He still has time to come back in March, when he’s finally healthy, and set a good foundation for next year, but in the meantime, we’re still suiting up Bukayo Saka at leftback.

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Here’s the good news. And it may sound stupid but I’m going to say it anyway. We signed the guy. Even if we don’t see him this year, in what might be our worst finish in ages, when we move into the Mikel Arteta era, we are going to have a stellar leftback capable of creating some pretty spectacular things.

And, in then meantime, the fullback apocalypse is covered and then some. With the addition of Cedric Soares, we now have two full-fledged rightbacks and another, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who could pass for a rightback too.

On the left we have two full-fledged leftbacks and another, Bukayo Saka, who could pass for a leftback too.

That’s planning for the long-term if I’ve ever seen it. And say what you will about Unai Emery, but it started during his watch.

So no matter what happens with Kieran Tierney this year, even if he doesn’t play another minute, he still gives us an excellent piece of the next era. He’s still going to be the guy that we signed last summer, even if it’s taken a long time to truly enjoy the signing.