Mikel Arteta has remained coy over the future of Ainsley Maitland-Niles as the Englishman edges closer to a move away from Arsenal.
Maitland-Niles has been transfer-listed at the Emirates as Arsenal seek to raise funds for transfers.
He has been targeted by several teams recently with Wolves reportedly close to agreeing on a deal to sign him.
Wolves have reportedly tabled a bid of around £15 million for his signature, but it has been turned down because the Gunners want £5 million more (The Sun).
Maitland-Niles played a key role as Arsenal won the FA Cup last season. Arteta always seems to trust him to do a job in key games and that is why fans are wondering why they want to sell him.
Speaking ahead of their match against Liverpool this weekend, Arteta refused to be straight-forward when answering questions on the midfielder moving.
He was asked “Can you bring us up to date on Ainsley Maitland-Niles?” and he said as quoted by Football London:
“Yes, we are reading a lot of news about our players which is not bad that other clubs want him but with Ainsley, he’s a player that I’ve said since I joined that I really like. The best way to show that is that I have played him in the most important games of the season and he responded really well, so that’s where we are with the player.”
When pressed on whether he will allow the Englishman leave, he said:
“I am always open to listening to what the player is feeling at every stage of their career and then I can give them my opinion of how I see them, what I expect from them and if we have the right understanding, then we have to move forward together. If there is something that doesn’t work then we have to assess it with the player and the club and then find the right decision for both of them.”
