Ainsley Maitland-Niles has come to the conclusion that the writing is on the wall for his career at Arsenal and in order to achieve regular first-team game time, he must leave the Emirates Stadium.
The 22-year-old England youth international came through the club’s Hale End academy to make his debut in 2014 and has accumulated 96 appearances under four different managers.
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He played a full part in each of Arsenal’s six Premier League games after Mikel Arteta was appointed as head coach on December 20 but has featured in only four of the subsequent 12 top-flight fixtures, all from the substitutes’ bench and has spent about 70 minutes on the pitch in total.
Since the home draw against Sheffield United on January 18, Maitland-Niles has completed a whole match just once — in an FA Cup quarter-final win away to the same opposition on June 28.
The shortage of game time has led Maitland-Niles to seek pastures new and although he is under contract until 2023, he is thought to believe now is the right time to continue his career elsewhere.
Talks between Arsenal and his representatives were geared towards the matter coming to a head once the campaign is over, enabling Arteta’s men to focus on a push for European qualification.
However, Arsenal saw their slim hopes of reaching next season’s Champions League ended with Sunday’s defeat away to Tottenham — a game for which Maitland-Niles was an unused substitute — and he is understood to think it would be best for both parties if a resolution was found sooner.
Maitland-Niles senses a lack of trust in him from Arteta and he would welcome the chance to explore a fresh opportunity away from his boyhood club, with interest coming from England and Germany.
He has mainly been utilised by Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery, Freddie Ljungberg and Arteta as a makeshift right-back and watched other academy graduates leapfrog him. Central midfield is the player’s favoured position and where he feels best-suited to improve the side if given a chance.
There have been issues around time-keeping; Maitland-Niles admitted in recent interviews that he held discussions with Arteta and “took the consequences” after arriving late for training once.
The website Transfermarkt values him at around £13 million and a potential sale could bring in some much-needed finances as Arsenal look to strengthen their squad ahead of the 2020-21 season.
(Photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
