Ainsley Maitland-Niles has returned to training with Arsenal for pre-season but isn’t believed to be a part of the manager’s plans ahead of the new campaign.
The 24 year-old spent last season on loan with Roma, but failed to convince Jose Mourinho that he was worthy of a regular first-team role, picking up just eight Serie A appearances last term.
He has since returned to north London and has joined up with the rest of the Arsenal squad for pre-season, but with him not being a part of Mikel Arteta’s plans for the new season, he remains one who is likely to be sold on this summer.
There hasn’t been much noise surrounding interest in his signature however, and CaughtOffside has claimed that he will need to lower his wage demands if he is to secure a move so he can play regular first-team football.
He has struggled for first-team football in recent seasons, with some question marks remaining concerning his best position with Mikel Arteta favouring him in a full-back or wing-back role, while he seems to prefer playing in central midfield.
Either way, he isn’t needed at Arsenal going into the new season, and he should simply bite the bullet and lower his demands in order to secure more playing time, as staying on with the top clubs doesn’t seem to be helping him to fulfil his potential at present.
Could he be silly enough to run down the final year of his contract whilst not playing in order to try and secure the best pay package next summer, or will he now be craving more playing time and do the right thing in order to achieve that?
Patrick
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