Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney is reportedly set to make his comeback from knee surgery in Friday's friendly encounter with 2. Bundesliga side Nuremberg at the Max-Morlock-Stadion.
The Scotland international played through the pain barrier of a knee injury before undergoing surgery in April, which ruled him out of the final few weeks of the 2021-22 Premier League season.
Arsenal missed out on Champions League football without Tierney, who was also forced to miss Scotland's World Cup 2022 Qualifying playoff semi-final with Ukraine, which Steve Clarke's side lost 3-1.
However, the 25-year-old made the journey to Germany with Mikel Arteta's squad for their summer training camp and has been pictured with the ball on his feet on the practice pitches.
Arsenal's second game of pre-season sees them tackle Nuremberg on Friday afternoon, and according to The Sun, Tierney could return from a three-month absence in that game.
The report claims that Arteta is hopeful of handing Tierney some minutes against the second-tier side, but he will certainly not feature for the full 90 of that exhibition game.
Arteta could therefore elect to hand a start to Cedric Soares or 17-year-old Lino Sousa at the Max-Morlock-Stadion before bringing on Tierney during a raft of half-time alterations.
Tierney's most recent game for Arsenal came in the 1-0 win over Aston Villa on March 19, and the ex-Celtic man played the full 90 minutes in Scotland's friendlies with Poland and Austria later that month before going under the knife.
Tierney ended the 2021-22 season with one goal and three assists under his belt from 25 games in all competitions, taking his total for Arsenal to four goals and 12 assists in 87 appearances.
However, the defender has missed a further 48 games for Arsenal through injury since his arrival, spending three months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury between December 2019 and March 2020.
Tierney also missed 16 games in the 2020-21 season due to knee and groin injuries and was also dealing with a short-term ankle problem in the autumn before his knee surgery.
New signing Fabio Vieira has also joined up with the squad in Germany after shaking off a foot injury, as the Portuguese midfielder sparked concern when he was pictured with his foot in a boot earlier this month.
Thomas Partey overcame a serious thigh injury to take part in a 5-1 behind-closed-doors friendly win over Ipswich Town at London Colney last weekend, but the midfielder has not been pictured in training with the team in Germany and is not believed to have travelled.
Eddie Nketiah scored a hat-trick alongside efforts from Albert Sambi Lokonga and Folarin Balogun in Arsenal's 5-1 win over the Tractor Boys last weekend, and the Gunners will travel to the USA to face Everton, Orlando City and Chelsea later this month before the Emirates Cup against Sevilla on July 30. body check tags ::
