By Joe Ellis

7th Apr, 2022 | 7:10am

Arsenal could call upon Lino Sousa to replace injured Kieran Tierney

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has his first-choice left-back Kieran Tierney out injured for the remainder of the season with a crucial run-in coming up.

The Spaniard has used Portuguese talent Nuno Tavares as the backup so far this season but there is a new signing at the Emirates that could make his senior debut sooner than expected.

Football London have reported that Lino Sousa has been impressing the staff at Arsenal ever since he joined the Gunners from West Brom in January and that he could be drafted into the senior squad due to Tierney’s absence.

Tavares is still expected to be the preferred option at left-back with his previous experience with the first team but Sousa could be sat among the substitutes in the Premier League for the rest of Arsenal’s 2021/22 campaign.

Too much to play for

Arsenal have prided themselves on giving their young talent a chance recently and it has worked tremendously with Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe both making themselves key components of their Champions League pursuit.

And while it may have worked with those two, they did have plenty of time and, most importantly, no pressure on their shoulders when it came to competing but it’s a different story for the Gunners now.

They are in the midst of a top-four race and even though they are leading it right now, it is far from done and throwing a 17-year-old into the mix could be a very dangerous decision.

With Tavares fit and ready to go, Arteta has to stick by the Portuguese man rather than take a huge risk on a player who has never played a senior game, no matter how good he might become one day.

In other Arsenal news, we think Gabriel Martinelli can solve Arteta’s striker issues.