Journalist Charles Watts has claimed that it is pretty clear Ainsley Maitland-Niles needs to leave Arsenal this summer.
Maitland-Niles spent the second half of last season on loan in Italy with AS Roma, where he featured eight times in Serie A, after making eight appearances in the Premier League with Arsenal in the first half of the previous campaign.
The English 24-year-old has not been named in the matchday squad for either of the Gunners’ opening two games this season in the Premier League, which could be a sign of things to come if he stays in north London.
With the likes of Hector Bellerin and Maitland-Niles being out of favour, Watts spoke on his YouTube channel and claimed that the latter needs to leave the club.
He said: “It’s pretty clear that he needs to go out, both of those players only have a year left. And ideally for Arsenal, they would get deals done for them this summer, move them on, and that generates more space in the squad.”
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TIF Thoughts on Watts’ comments…
Arsenal have looked good in their opening two fixtures of the season, coming away with six points from a possible six, so it does not look like Mikel Arteta will be changing his squad around any time soon, meaning Maitland-Niles may likely be left out of his plans going forward.
Maitland-Niles has under one year left on his contract with the Gunners, so the north London club might be hoping to cash in on him before the transfer window ends, while he might be keen to force a move away if he is not going to be selected.
However, it is finding a club that are willing to buy the Englishman which could leave a difficult situation for both parties, so it will be interesting to see where he ends up at the end of the transfer window.