The on-off relationship between Arsenal and Ainsley Maitland-Niles will soon come to its conclusion, one way or the other.
Since making his debut aged 17 in 2014, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has changed his mind several times about his playing position.
The athletic, versatile player can play at wing-back, full-back, on the wing or in center midfield. He broke into the team as a center midfielder, but found playing time at right back and left back.
He caused a stir by insisting he wanted to play in center midfield. Then, bizarrely, he said he saw his future playing as an attacking winger for Arsenal.
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In his quest to carve out a niche in football, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has had spells on loan at Ipswich and West Brom.
The only ones who’ve flip-flopped more about Maitland-Niles are his club, Arsenal, who can’t seem to decide what to do with him.
From a calculated squad building standpoint, they probably should have sold him to Wolves in 2020. A fee of around £20 million was on offer and in the context of the following pandemic, that looks like a good deal.
He caused yet more consternation on this year’s transfer deadline day, when he pleaded on his Instagram story to be sold to Everton.
“I am just thinking about the future and what’s ahead of me. It was great to be out there today, getting my minutes, and hopefully there is more to come”, he said after his first Premier League start of the season against Watford.
“Yeah [I’m] always happy to be on the pitch and play, it’s a good feeling. Of course I’m looking for more minutes, I just need to keep my head down and keep going and working hard.”
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With the AFCON coming up, he will get plenty of minutes in central midfield for Arsenal this season. It will be the making or breaking of him, as he currently has 131 Arsenal appearances.
150 appearances is the point at which you know a player will succeed or not. It is usually the point at which players begin to fulfill their potential. Maitland-Niles will reach that mark this season and in the process, find out if he will ever make it at Arsenal.
