'Damning' Kieran Tierney move makes Gary Lineker sad as cut-throat Arsenal call underlines demise of a superstar

Lineker weighed in on the shock move from Mikel Arteta with Arsenal's domestic season on the line.

Leading broadcaster Gary Lineker has been left saddened by the demise of Raheem Sterling after the Arsenal star was brutally overlooked in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Sunday.

Celtic-bound Kieran Tierney continued his upwards trajectory with the Gunners when he was surprisingly chosen to star on the left wing over the former Manchester City and England standout with Arsenal in desperate need of a win to rescue their slimmest of Premier League title hopes. Sterling has been reduced to a bit-part role during his season-long loan from Chelsea and the incident to go with Tierney also left Old Trafford commentator Gary Neville scratching his head.

Now Lineker – in conversation with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards on the Rest of Football podcast – weighed in on the shock move made by Mikel Arteta with Arsenal's domestic season on the line.

The Lineker, Shearer and Richards exchange in full

Lineker: “What did you make about, I mean, hard to be critical of him because he didn’t get on, but it’s Raheem Sterling. They even brought Tierney on and then played him quite far forward.”

Shearer: “Pretty damning, isn’t it?”

Lineker: “Yeah, a little, it’s a bit sad. He’s been a brilliant player for club and country for a long time. I wonder about the fact that he played so much football at such an early age and brilliant football as well. Maybe that’s taken a toll on him or something, or maybe he’s lacking a bit of confidence or who knows? You know, he’s not ancient, is he?”

Shearer: “Yeah, you can tell even that a bit of a spring has gone, and his belief in the confidence when he gets the ball is not that quite that same, I don’t know, energy or whatever it is that, and I guess that’s maybe confidence as well, because he hasn’t played and when he has played, he hasn’t done so well.”

Richards: “I think it’s just that sharpness, isn’t it? I think he’s had injuries, he goes to Chelsea in a different system, didn’t really see the best of him. He’s played in a team which was winning every single week at Man City, gone to Arsenal for another, you know, a high pressing team, but he’s just missing that sharpness, you know, with Raheem.”