Kevin Phillips is surprised that Arsenal considered selling Ainsley Maitland-Niles and claimed that they would have lost a great player.
Arsenal has transfer-listed the Englishman as they look to raise fund for their other transfer targets.
He has been in fine form for the club and his performance against Liverpool in the Community Shield has earned him a place in the England national team for their next games.
Wolves have had the strongest interest in him since he was made available for transfer with reports claiming that they have had a bid rejected for him as Arsenal holds on for their asking price.
However, Sky Sports recently claimed that Wolves have dropped their interest in him because they think Arsenal will not sell him or he will be more expensive to buy now.
Reacting to the news, Phillips claimed that Arsenal would have lost a great player and Wolves would have gotten a good player had the deal gone through.
“I think he would have been a big loss to Arsenal,” he told Football Insider.
“A great young player. An attacking full-back with bags of energy. The biggest thing for him is his final delivery, it needs to get better but it will come.
“That would have been great business for Wolves. They have a track record of improving players. If he is to leave Arsenal I think Wolves would have been a good club to go to and develop with the quality players that are at the club.
“I never saw that one coming because I thought Maitland-Niles would at Arsenal for a long time.”
Very correct. We need to keep AMN at any cost and it would be a mistake to sell him. His energy and off the ball work is great and only his final delivery should improve which I am sure will very soon.