Duncan Castles has been talking on the latest episode of The Transfer Window Podcast, and he has been speaking about Wolverhampton Wanderers’ move for Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Castles spent a lot of time talking about transfers and dedicated a little bit of time to Wolves’ move for the 22-year-old. Recent reports have claimed that the Arsenal man is close to a move to Molineux, but according to David Ornstein, the deal is not as far along as first reported.
It seems as if this is a move that has been picked out by Wolves’ scouts and that the club are now in talks with Arsenal over a player that Mikel Arteta is not keen on.
He said: “Wolves have entered into talks with Arsenal over the transfer of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who is primarily a right-back but can play in midfield as well.
“[He is] surplus to requirements, not fancied by Mikel Arteta, he played 20 Premier League games last season but young and, physically, quite well-suited to Wolves’ game.
“I am told it’s a transfer that’s been driven by Wolves’ recruitment staff, so they proposed Maitland-Niles as a Premier League-experienced younger player who can come in to replace [Matt] Doherty if necessary.”
Would you be happy with Maitland-Niles as a Doherty replacement?
No
Yes
TIF Thoughts…
Matt Doherty has been linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, so perhaps Maitland-Niles is being lined up as a replacement for the Irishman if he leaves Wolves because he played as a right-back on many occasions last season, earning an average overall rating of 6.78 from his performances at right-back last term, according to WhoScored.
However, he is also versatile, and in his time with Arsenal, he has played in six different positions and has made exactly 100 first-team appearances.
The deal was thought to be close on Monday.
Now it appears as if Wolves have had their first bid rejected for Maitland-Niles, so we will just have to see what happens.