Arsenal man almost joined Barcelona but Mikel Arteta said no

Fabrizio Romano claims that Barcelona attempted to land Arsenal midfielder, Ainsley Maitland-Niles in this transfer window, but Mikel Arteta played a key role in making the Englishman stay.

The 23-year-old was told earlier in the summer that he can leave Arsenal. The Gunners even had an offer from Wolves for him.

However, he turned his season around with some fine performances and he even earned an England call up in the last international window.

He is now one of the key members of the Arsenal team and he just keeps on improving.

Romano claims that the Blaguaranas considered making a move for him as they looked for a new right-back, but they eventually settled for Sergino Dest from Ajax.

Arsenal fans will be glad that their club kept hold of one of the best players to graduate from their academy in recent seasons.

Maitland-Niles is set to play an even bigger role for Arsenal as he continues to develop and he will hope to both continue playing well into the future and maintain his place in the England national team.

Keeping the midfielder adds to a fine summer transfer window for the Gunners after they signed the likes of Thomas Partey and kept hold of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.