Should Arsenal bring back Maitland-Niles as a squad player next season?

Admin Pat

3 years ago

The Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has hinted that there may be a chance to keep Ainsley Maitland-Niles at the club, when his loan to Southampton ends this summer. Arteta made the comment during a pre-match press conference ahead of Southampton’s visit to the Emirates. However, Maitland-Niles is ineligible to face his parent club in the upcoming game.

Maitland-Niles has been given a reasonable amount of playing time this season, despite the club’s poor form that sees them sitting at the bottom of the Premier League table and four points from safety.

The 25-year-old had struggled to secure a spot in Arsenal’s first team and has spent much of the last three seasons on loan at West Brom, Roma, and now Southampton. He has only played the whole 90 minutes in 11 league games for the Saints in this campaign and is facing an uncertain future when he returns to the Emirates in the summer.

Although Arsenal is well-stocked in both right-back and central midfield, Arteta hinted that Maitland-Niles could still have a future in his team, despite being used sparingly in recent years. Maitland-Niles is a versatile player who can play in various positions, which could be an asset to Arsenal if he is willing to simply be one of Arteta’s squad players.

Arteta spoke about Maitland-Niles time at the club when he said: ‘He was a really important part.

‘It’s a player with incredible versatility that has played in many positions. For different reasons, some personal, some professional he had to move around a lot.

‘We will discuss at the end of the season what’s best.’

The Gunners’ decision on whether to keep the former England international is yet to be seen, but Arteta’s comments suggest that the club may be willing to welcome him back and possibly extend his contract.

It is obvious Arsenal will need an even bigger squad next season to cope with all the extra fixtures, so maybe AMN could be kept on as a wildcard like Reiss Nelson and Rob Holding?

Darren N

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