Every few minutes, a Real Sociedad player takes a diversion through the glass-encased cafeteria of their training complex, squirrelled away in the mountains south of San Sebastian.
After a rainy weekend recovery session, a beeline to the car park exit would seem the optimal route, but Malian defender Hamari Traore and Nigerian striker Umar Sadiq are among those who burst into the room to deliver a message — the exact same message — to Kieran Tierney.
“KT! How are you, my brother?” they shout, in affected Scottish accents.
It is a term of affection the squad have borrowed from the Scottish left-back during his season-long loan from Arsenal. In this instance, they are attempting to perk him up after his “head had gone” following an injury that kept him out for the Real Madrid game at the end of last month.
Tierney is entering his final three weeks in the Basque region, having immersed himself in this part of northern Spain, whether that be learning commands to direct his winger, eating his favourite local steak dish txuleton or exploring the hills with his Rottweiler, Benjy, to watch La Real’s media officer coach his local team.
“There were so many papers just to get Benjy here,” says Tierney. “At least he’s got a European passport, so he should be sound in customs coming back.”
As the 26-year-old sits down with The Athletic, he speaks about San Sebastian with the vigour of someone who wishes he could delay the flight back to the UK.
“It’s a totally different lifestyle, but I’ve enjoyed every second of it. It’s probably been the quickest year of my career,” Tierney says.
“The last two years have been new to me, as it’s the first taste of not being first-choice. At Celtic, I played all the way. At Arsenal, I had played all the way until the last season and this year I’ve played most of the time when I’m fit but, unfortunately, I’ve had a couple of injuries.
“It’s tough but I’m not complaining one bit. Very rarely do you go through your full career and everything goes nice and smoothly for you. It’s made me learn and made me stronger.”
Tierney had options to remain in the Premier League or go to other countries but when La Real made contact last summer, his preferred destination became clear.
“I had an inkling I wanted to try something outside of England,” he says. “When this came up, it felt perfect. It’s got a proper family feel, the city is amazing and playing Champions League was massive for me.”
Tierney has carved a reputation as a throwback. Playing in short sleeves in the snow; using a supermarket carrier bag rather than designer leather luggage; marauding overlaps as opposed to intricate full-back inversion.
San Sebastian is all polished chic, a stunning coastline allied with the most Michelin-starred restaurants per square metre of anywhere in the world. It screams luxury and glamour. Presumably the football is about being pretty, too? Not quite.
“On my first day I was like, ‘Ooft!’. I was blowing,” laughs Tierney.
“But I thought, ‘I love this, this is what it’s about’. No one was holding back, everyone was running into challenges. There was no going at 85 per cent as we’ve got a game coming up. People think about Spain and tiki-taka but this group is about winning through hard work. The training has a lot of running here. In England and Scotland, pre-season is the really tough time but here it is always intense.
“The way they compete is unbelievable. It comes from the manager. Everything is about winning your duels. If you don’t, you’ll know about it.”
It turns out La Real manager Imanol Alguacil’s values align closely with Tierney and his hometown of Motherwell, famed for its steel industry. But for all the positives, the defender has been denied a golden moment to take away from his spell in Spain.
A 4-1 aggregate loss to…
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