✍️ OFFICIAL Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Out)

[FluffyDoozi]

If we get north of 20 million we got to take it. He's just not good enough to play central midfield. His passing is average at best, disappears in games and doesn't make himself available for passes. What use is athletic ability if your technical ability is pretty low.

Shame because he could have made a top right back if he set his mind to it. Similar to Wan Bissaka and could even have been better than him because he's actually decent going forward.

Alternatively he could have bid his time playing right back and wait for an opportunity in central midfield like Lahm and Kimmich have. With the dross we have in midfield surely it was a question of when not if.

 

[grange]

Is there an actual source on this?

 

[MutableEarth]

Is there an actual source on this?

Ornstein

 

[truth_hurts]

He's won me over recently. 25m for a back up.rb and cm would be too good to turn down.

Imagine getting 100m for Iwobi, AMN, Guendouzi and El Nenny.

 

[lomekian]

Few observations:
1) Will be v disappointed if AMN leaves without having the chance to play on the right side of the 3 man midfield Arteta is clearly aiming for. He's played there 3 times in his career for us and twice was excellent. His athleticism, ability in one on one duels and capacity to go inside or out means he really should be given more of a chance there.

2) Homegrown status will add a price premium a la Ox & Iwobi

3) We're all taking this as gospel, but has Ornstein actually been right about much since the new regime came in and whoever his source was either left or was silenced? No quotes or claims of quotes, and why would AMN suddenly be demanding a move 3 weeks after re-affirming his commitment and having a bit of game time recently?

 

[Beksl]

@Beksl is in tears right now

Would rather see Nketiah's name tbh.

 

[DanDare]

Few observations:
1) Will be v disappointed if AMN leaves without having the chance to play on the right side of the 3 man midfield Arteta is clearly aiming for. He's played there 3 times in his career for us and twice was excellent. His athleticism, ability in one on one duels and capacity to go inside or out means he really should be given more of a chance there.

2) Homegrown status will add a price premium a la Ox & Iwobi

3) We're all taking this as gospel, but has Ornstein actually been right about much since the new regime came in and whoever his source was either left or was silenced? No quotes or claims of quotes, and why would AMN suddenly be demanding a move 3 weeks after re-affirming his commitment and having a bit of game time recently?

With regards to point 3, I think Ornsteins as reliable as ever in that, the club leak him stuff and he isn't necessarily the most discerning with what the motive of the leak is.

Likewise I think agents contact him. Hard to say if it's AMN camp or Arsenal that have leaked this. Suppose it doesn't really matter, the motive is to get AMN a move now club. Or perhaps to try and get AMN more playing time but that won't work

 

[SingmeasongSong]

As much as I love AMN and think he's one of the most talented players I've seen in a while, I would not be totally crushed to see him leave, if our club would make the most of it.

Guess it's all that matters for most of us, as we've lost trust in the decisions our club is making.

Will we get proper money for AMN, which he should definitely fetch for us?
Are we consequently also getting rid of the many players way worse than AMN ?
Will we just reinvest the money for another set of mid-class solutions ?

We would only benefit from this, if all the money would go straight back into player investments, and only for really talented young players or specific topclass players that fit a need in the first team..

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

Feeling a 30m bid from Everton is on the cards.

 

[The_Playmaker]

Feeling a 30m bid from Everton is on the cards.

More like Monchengladbach , Leipzig or AC Milan. He's not going to a rubbish team.

 

[truth_hurts]

I've warmed to the idea of AMN being a valuable squad member next year and for that reason he will not be sold. The board have assured me.

Now that he is happy to play wherever asked, despite being a sellable asset, we need to keep him.

He does a more than adequate job as full back or wing back, loves the club and can offer competition in midfield. There are other players that I'd rather sell. his experience, versatility and home grown status makes him pretty valuable in my eyes.

If he left, there are a lot of clubs where he could make an impact. Weirdly, I see Leicester or Wolves as good fit for him. KEEP.

 

[Mitch]

Really sad that the number of RB's at the club better than Hector will decrease from 4 to 3. @Mitch

Same, AMN is a good player that I wouldnt want to lose.

At least we still have Chambers, Cedric and Sokratis who have all out performed Bellerin at RB this season (that's not saying much mind).

 

[14Henry]

Good on him if he is looking to leave.

Hes been used in every position but his actual position.

He has been threw in at the deep end sometimes playing left back against decent wingers and I never really remember him having a real shocking time.

It also shows that he clearly has ambition to make a name for himself. He wants to play matches, and he wants to establish himself in midfield. He sees that option isnt available at Arsenal and has decided to move on. Fair play to him.

He could easily stay at Arsenal for an easy life. Few quid, London etc but he clearly has ambition. Which many at this club dont have.

 

[The_Playmaker]

Bellerin is someone I consider to be upgradeable but he's not really a player I consider to be a huge problem. The problem is really that we don't have a young back-up challenging him - we have Cedric who I'm not convinced by. Yeah, AMN could be argued to be the better full-back (I wouldn't argue that personally) but his long term future is elsewhere.

I like Jayden Bogle and Denzel Dumfries as options. Aarons is a little overrated IMO. Either way, RB is sown up.


Yeah, RB is set. I don't really like RB much either, I think that's a spot that we're gonna need to upgrade sooner than we think. I'm not crazy about Cedric just yet, and Bellerin is Bellerin. But I think people go overboard with Bellerin because he likes androgynous clothes and is a vegan. I don't think he's had great performances of late either but he's obviously had a difficult time getting back to his best after an ACL rupture. He's started to look better in the last few weeks and put in some decent performances. I don't really know what more people want!

I think a major issue why we struggle to progress the ball is that we lack sufficient layers of passing and there is a major issue with Bellerin's technical level. The next time they play together I urge you to keep an eye on how they receive the ball.

Tierney's first touch takes him to the touchline, meaning he can hit the ball down the line if it's on. If it isn't he can cruyff turn and go inside or back. He also uses his right foot alot for a left back.

Bellerins first touch ALWAYS takes him inside. So he can never release Pepe. It means he always goes inside,l and when he goes inside he either has to drive forward which he lacks confidence and dribbling ability in, or he passes inside, but we know our options aren't there, or he goes back with his right foot to Mustafi.

AMN and Soares have more layers. They receive on the outside and they can pass inside with their left foot. It's a minor technical detail, but it has a massive impact.

That's not even going into crossing ability, passing range, pass of pass and ability to beat a man. He is very limited and it simply means Pepe has nothing to work with.

I'd also add that you see AMN miss out Mustafi and pass straight to Luiz. That is a very confident inside pass to make. He does it quite often and it completely opens up our left side. If Soares also has that pass in him then bellerin is even more redundant.

 

[bingobob]

And everyone wonders why teams like Southampton etc demand big money for their players when there are people on here thinking we should be selling AMN for £25m.

Fees like that fuel the madness. 25m for AMN makes Jack Grealish a 100m player. It's a shame the market is like that but hey ho what can you do, you got to play the game.

 

[Why]

Maybe I watch different games to some of you lot, but I really don't see Bellerin as an issue. The problem I had in the last game was with Pepe, the first 30mins he was awful, he seemed incredibly lazy and slow. Missplaced a few passes and wasn't really chasing much. Bellerin did try to release him a few times and Pepe would get the ball and stop and pass back or to the side. It was only after that he started cutting inside and causing a bit of a threat. But most of the time Pepe stands around on the right and doesn't give much space to Bellerin to do what Tierney does.

Auba pulls players away, and gives Tierney a lot of space to work and get those crosses in.

Now on AMN, I don't really care, I feel he has been the guy to cover for Bellerin when he was injured and became a bit of a scapegoat for awhile, he always said he wants to play CM. If he cant get that then he should probably move on and be happy.

 

[MutableEarth]

And everyone wonders why teams like Southampton etc demand big money for their players when there are people on here thinking we should be selling AMN for £25m.

Fees like that fuel the madness. 25m for AMN makes Jack Grealish a 100m player. It's a shame the market is like that but hey ho what can you do, you got to play the game.

The game is the game. Speaking personally for myself, it's almost grotesque in a way. But the love of the game breeds the kind of cognitive dissonance you see here. It's one of the reasons I love the idea of a Hale End XI one day, a fanciful pie-in-the-sky pipe dream that'll never ever happen - but something very organic about it all.

 

[tap-in]

And everyone wonders why teams like Southampton etc demand big money for their players when there are people on here thinking we should be selling AMN for £25m.

Fees like that fuel the madness. 25m for AMN makes Jack Grealish a 100m player. It's a shame the market is like that but hey ho what can you do, you got to play the game.

The big difference is players like Van Dyke had shown their worth and was a nailed on starter. Grealish is the jewel in a PL team, AMN isn't a starter in a PL team, he's an average utility player. We bought Cedric in so he's ahead for RB and I dont see AMN getting into our midfield, so sell for about £25m. You cant get more than that for a player who has failed to become a starter.

Edit: Ignore my reply and see apology in my next post!

 

[MutableEarth]

The big difference is players like Van Dyke had shown their worth and was a nailed on starter. Grealish is the jewel in a PL team, AMN isn't a starter in a PL team, he's an average utility player. We bought Cedric in so he's ahead for RB and I dont see AMN getting into our midfield, so sell for about £25m. You cant get more than that for a player who has failed to become a starter.

You misunderstand him. He's saying it's amazing that we're getting such a high amount for AMN.

 

[tap-in]

You misunderstand him. He's saying it's amazing that we're getting such a high amount for AMN.

Oh, I thought he felt we should be getting more! Sorry @bingobob we are normally on similar wavelengths re players, good to see that remains the case