✍️ OFFICIAL Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Out)

[al-Ustaadh]

AMN seemed to lose interest at playing fullback again. It’s time to say goodbye now unless he comes begging to play RB.

Allardyce seemed pretty blunt about AMN’s prospects. Three managers have said enough about him in CM. He needs to give up on Wenger’s dream and do what’s necessary.

 

[Heavy Duty Rom]

Sell. Chambers was really impressive at right back.

 

[boonthegoon]

Should have sold last summer. His stock was high, could have easily got 20m+
Now we don't want him, he publicly wants out. Good luck getting more than 10m for an English international while Chelsea and Liverpool continue to get 25m for some randos.

 

[Gooner416]

This bit is actually very strange, since Arteta said he was in constant contact with our Loans guy when it came to Saliba. Wonder if Mik was not being completely truthful there?

Either way, it's not a good look for the club leaving a player out to dry like that and it does not augur well for our other loanees, maybe bar Willock. Our loans have had issues the past few years and is something that we need to do better as a club overall.

Would love your take on this @MutableEarth

Farteta was just spewing more verbal diarrhea that the media baths in.

 

[AbouCuéllar]

Spoiler: Then a couple of months after that, it all died down, I wasn’t playing anymore … so it was strange, very strange.

The Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles wants Mikel Arteta to commit to giving him a first team future at the club or sanction the sale of the England international, and he would like the decision to come now rather than the gritty endgame of the transfer window.

In a wide-ranging interview, the academy graduate, who joined the Hale End centre at the age of five, calls upon Arsenal to give him “clarity” on his future and concedes that it may be time to “kiss goodbye” to the club of his life. Having spent the second part of the season as a regular at West Bromwich Albion, with the aim of keeping his place in the England squad for this month’s European championships, he also expresses his dismay at being overlooked by Gareth Southgate.

Maitland-Niles, 24 in August, finds himself in an unusual position with two years remaining on his contract as one of those homegrown players, like Joe Willock, about whom Arteta is yet to make a decision. With major changes to the squad expected as contracts come to an end, inward loanees’ futures have to be decided. Four first team squad members, including Maitland-Niles, return from loan and his concern is that the club will drag their feet over a decision.

Speaking on a Zoom call from his home, Maitland-Niles says there has been no contact yet from Arteta, or technical director Edu, the Brazilian who is in charge of recruitment for the Kroenke ownership. Maitland-Niles has remained in the country since the end of the Premier League season with West Brom and has continued working on his fitness with a trainer, as he has done for the last four summers. He is cautiously hopeful of a meeting soon to discuss the future.

“If I was to get a phone call from someone at Arsenal and they said they’d like a meeting tomorrow, then it would be easier that way,” he says. “They can tell me whether they’ve got plans to play me in the future or if they want to sell me. I’ve heard they want to make some space [in the squad] and some money so I’m not sure.”


He adds that there has been some contact from the club’s medical department to establish a summer training programme, but no indication as to where he stands in the long-term having been a key figure in the FA Cup triumph of the 2019-2020 season.

Maitland-Niles says: “I want a decision. I want some clarity. And then hopefully I can get to work with whoever I need to get to work with. Whether that is finding a new club or whether that is carrying on with my training. I would like some kind of indication of what is happening. Where they [Arsenal] see me. If it works out it works out, if it doesn’t then kiss Arsenal goodbye. It’s been a long journey but a proud one at that. Maybe they still want to do something and things could change. If not, there’s always other teams. It would be easier to do it now than waiting for pre-season to kick in and everything is super busy. And they can’t answer their phones because they are doing too much work. You know how the football world works.”

From a Wembley winner in the semi-final and final of the FA Cup to five caps in the Autumn for Southgate, Maitland-Niles says that he found it hard to accept how quickly his place at Arsenal, and then England, was taken away from him. He made his senior debut against Denmark in September and four more caps swiftly followed in October and November. Yet by Christmas he was principally starting just Europa League games at Arsenal as well as the League Cup defeat to Manchester City.

“It was a difficult one for me to swallow,” he says, “because the back end of last season, I put in a couple of performances in the cup, in the final, then after that break we had another final [Community Shield] which led to my England call-up not too long after that. Then a couple of months after that, it all died down, I wasn’t playing anymore … so it was strange, very strange.

“I went from having everything at my feet to everything taken away from me. I was trying to understand it on my own. But sometimes it’s not for me to understand, it’s for me to keep working hard, to keep doing what I do and I have to let other people understand it for me.

“It was difficult to take. You get called up for England, play regular football for your club, get to an England camp then it all disappears and you’re not playing for either. You don’t really get any contact from either manager, from international stage or club. I was thinking: ‘What you want me to do now? What am I supposed to do now?’”

He is philosophical about the difficult decisions facing Southgate in picking his squad. He notes that the England manager had said that he wants goalscoring midfielders, a part of Maitland-Niles’ game that, he acknowledges, is yet to flourish. He points out that others in his favoured position have been playing there consistently longer than him.

“I am not going to put that on Gareth saying ‘I need midfielders who score goals’ as the reason he didn’t pick me. He just felt he needed more goals in the team to help him win the Euros which is what he went and did. I think the squad he picked is still a great team that can do great things. I was gutted when I didn’t get picked. That was the whole reason for me going out on loan. To not even make the 33-man squad was … ‘Okay let’s start from square one again. Let's go back to the drawing board and see what the plan is for the next World Cup.’ It did hurt but at the end of the day I went out there and gave it my all.”

The question of Maitland-Niles’ best position has been a thorny one his whole senior career, and it is in central midfield where he sees himself ultimately. Having said that, he embraces his versatility at full-back. He also points out that Sam Allardyce would often use him in wide positions in the latter stages of games.
He wants to hear how Arteta sees his future – and he will not be alone. Willock will also want to know the same. Fellow academy graduate Eddie Nketiah has a single year left on his existing deal. So too Alexandre Lacazette. Mattéo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira return from their loans and Dani Ceballos and Martin Ødegaard head back to Real Madrid.

There is also doubt over the future of others, including Hector Bellerin, which naturally makes Maitland-Niles wonder how long it might take to resolve his own situation.

“You have to get your head around what you might not want to hear and be prepared if that’s the case,” he says. “Be a man about the situation. If it’s not going to work there then there’s always other clubs that will take you and I like to think that I’ve done enough in the Premier League in the last half of the season to have other clubs interested in me.”

AMN strikes me as a bit of a knob honestly, between this and his not accepting his best position at the top level (being a RB for Arsenal and England, or a CM bottom table level or perhaps Championship level at best--which would you choose?).

As @yousif_arsenal said this could all be done through his agent or himself easily, clear attention grabbing antics.

For the umpteempth time, terrible decision not to sell him last summer to Wolves when his value was high and we needed cash for reinforcements.

 

[Rasmi]

Farteta was just spewing more verbal diarrhea that the media baths in.

its amazing how much he lies with such composure and people just eat it up. How people cant see this man is full of it is beyond me. I hate him

 

[MutableEarth]

This bit is actually very strange, since Arteta said he was in constant contact with our Loans guy when it came to Saliba. Wonder if Mik was not being completely truthful there?

Either way, it's not a good look for the club leaving a player out to dry like that and it does not augur well for our other loanees, maybe bar Willock. Our loans have had issues the past few years and is something that we need to do better as a club overall.

Would love your take on this @MutableEarth

Honestly I don't really have a groundbreaking take - they were probably in touch with Ben Knapper but not directly in touch with Ainsley. I think there have been some bridges burnt. They obviously planned to keep AMN as a full-back permanently but AMN (going by his comments in the rest of the artlcle) was probably fine to do a job but ultimately didn't want to pigeon-hole himself there.

The loan situation ironically is miles better than it was a couple of seasons ago. We're still getting a few things wrong but ultimately it's a lot better. AMN's options were slightly restricted because he wanted to play midfield so his loan wasn't as great as perhaps we'd all have liked but we did a decent job with most of them. Ballard and McGuinness for example had successful campaigns, the former became a full international and got promoted to the Championship.

As for AMN, I just think he's painted into a corner. The club now know he isn't going to be a long term option for full-back because he wants to play in midfield and that will definitely have an impact on whatever happens. I think the best thing would be for him to leave and see if we can get at least some value back from him. I hope he goes to Palace, they need a player like him and it will be good for him to grow into the midfielder I believe he can be there.

 

[kash2]

AMN strikes me as a bit of a knob honestly, between this and his not accepting his best position at the top level (being a RB for Arsenal and England, or a CM bottom table level or perhaps Championship level at best--which would you choose?).

As @yousif_arsenal said this could all be done through his agent or himself easily, clear attention grabbing antics.

For the umpteempth time, terrible decision not to sell him last summer to Wolves when his value was high and we needed cash for reinforcements.

the only knobs are arteta and edu. they cant even manage a simple thing, without it all going right into a standoff, they ghosting players and banishing them without communication. they claim to be managing one of the top sporting enterprises in the world, and they cant even handle young players. total asswipes.

 

[AbouCuéllar]

the only knobs are arteta and edu. they cant even manage a simple thing, without it all going right into a standoff, they ghosting players and banishing them without communication. they claim to be managing one of the top sporting enterprises in the world, and they cant even handle young players. total asswipes.

It's the beginning of June, mate. Managers are on holiday, players are at the Euro Cup, the season just ended a couple weeks ago. What's more likely, the whole management of the team is 'ghosting' a player, or AMN is giving an interview because he's a young kid frustrated with the state of his career and looking for attention to advance it?

What he's describing is totally normal. What are they going to, call him at the end of the season and and promptly tell him that he didn't perform nearly well enough at CM for West Brom to be in the conversation for a club like Arsenal, and that they are going to listen to all offers for him this summer?

C'mon. So naive. This is nothing more than a young kid speaking out of turn out of frustration.

 

[kash2]

It's the beginning of June, mate. Managers are on holiday, players are at the Euro Cup, the season just ended a couple weeks ago. What's more likely, the whole management of the team is 'ghosting' a player, or AMN is giving an interview because he's a young kid frustrated with the state of his career and looking for attention to advance it?

What he's describing is totally normal. What are they going to, call him at the end of the season and and promptly tell him that he didn't perform nearly well enough at CM for West Brom to be in the conversation for a club like Arsenal, and that they are going to listen to all offers for him this summer?

C'mon. So naive. This is nothing more than a young kid speaking out of turn out of frustration.

its not the first time...they have dicked around many players like this for a long time. The only way they know is to cut the player and exile him and then spread slander about him. **** their holidays after coming eigth and dropping out of europe. screw your young kid nonsense too...that young kid played many seasons with pretty good success for Arsenal and won stuff.

 

[Moah]

More and more if Mik's behaviour reminds me of Michael Scott in The Office.

Michael Scott may have been unfit for the job but he genuinely cared for those around him, this is slander, even for him.

 

[AbouCuéllar]

its not the first time...they have dicked around many players like this for a long time. The only way they know is to cut the player and exile him and then spread slander about him. **** their holidays after coming eigth and dropping out of europe. screw your young kid nonsense too...that young kid played many seasons with pretty good success for Arsenal and won stuff.

Ok. You want a stick to beat Arteta and the current regime with. Who am I to take it from you?

Personally think there's enough legitimate stuff to criticise them on (one of them, ironically, is the poor decision not to sell AMN last summer) without getting into tendentious crap for the sake of releasing anger. But as you like.

 

[Ash10]

We should've sold him last summer. That's what you get for letting incompetent, inexperienced people run the club

 

[kash2]

Ok. You want a stick to beat Arteta and the current regime with. Who am I to take it from you?

Personally think there's enough legitimate stuff to criticise them on (one of them, ironically, is the poor decision not to sell AMN last summer) without getting into tendentious crap for the sake of releasing anger. But as you like.

i dont need a stick. These assipes just delivered the biggest dud of a season ever and are crooks to boot. On top of that they are destroying players careers, who once were bright rising stars.

 

[AbouCuéllar]

i dont need a stick. These assipes just delivered the biggest dud of a season ever and are crooks to boot. On top of that they are destroying players careers, who once were bright rising stars.

Yeah yeah. Arteta and his staff have killed his career by playing him in the position he had a real chance for a career at the top level in and forcing him to play apathetically and poorly in that position thi season.

Only thing they have done wrong by him (and the club, more), really, is not selling him last summer when they should've, so he might've got that wake up call earlier.

I look forward to seeing AMN play CM for a club better than Arsenal in the coming years. I am sure that will happen...

 

[CountChocula]

Spoiler: Then a couple of months after that, it all died down, I wasn’t playing anymore … so it was strange, very strange.

The Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles wants Mikel Arteta to commit to giving him a first team future at the club or sanction the sale of the England international, and he would like the decision to come now rather than the gritty endgame of the transfer window.

In a wide-ranging interview, the academy graduate, who joined the Hale End centre at the age of five, calls upon Arsenal to give him “clarity” on his future and concedes that it may be time to “kiss goodbye” to the club of his life. Having spent the second part of the season as a regular at West Bromwich Albion, with the aim of keeping his place in the England squad for this month’s European championships, he also expresses his dismay at being overlooked by Gareth Southgate.

Maitland-Niles, 24 in August, finds himself in an unusual position with two years remaining on his contract as one of those homegrown players, like Joe Willock, about whom Arteta is yet to make a decision. With major changes to the squad expected as contracts come to an end, inward loanees’ futures have to be decided. Four first team squad members, including Maitland-Niles, return from loan and his concern is that the club will drag their feet over a decision.

Speaking on a Zoom call from his home, Maitland-Niles says there has been no contact yet from Arteta, or technical director Edu, the Brazilian who is in charge of recruitment for the Kroenke ownership. Maitland-Niles has remained in the country since the end of the Premier League season with West Brom and has continued working on his fitness with a trainer, as he has done for the last four summers. He is cautiously hopeful of a meeting soon to discuss the future.

“If I was to get a phone call from someone at Arsenal and they said they’d like a meeting tomorrow, then it would be easier that way,” he says. “They can tell me whether they’ve got plans to play me in the future or if they want to sell me. I’ve heard they want to make some space [in the squad] and some money so I’m not sure.”


He adds that there has been some contact from the club’s medical department to establish a summer training programme, but no indication as to where he stands in the long-term having been a key figure in the FA Cup triumph of the 2019-2020 season.

Maitland-Niles says: “I want a decision. I want some clarity. And then hopefully I can get to work with whoever I need to get to work with. Whether that is finding a new club or whether that is carrying on with my training. I would like some kind of indication of what is happening. Where they [Arsenal] see me. If it works out it works out, if it doesn’t then kiss Arsenal goodbye. It’s been a long journey but a proud one at that. Maybe they still want to do something and things could change. If not, there’s always other teams. It would be easier to do it now than waiting for pre-season to kick in and everything is super busy. And they can’t answer their phones because they are doing too much work. You know how the football world works.”

From a Wembley winner in the semi-final and final of the FA Cup to five caps in the Autumn for Southgate, Maitland-Niles says that he found it hard to accept how quickly his place at Arsenal, and then England, was taken away from him. He made his senior debut against Denmark in September and four more caps swiftly followed in October and November. Yet by Christmas he was principally starting just Europa League games at Arsenal as well as the League Cup defeat to Manchester City.

“It was a difficult one for me to swallow,” he says, “because the back end of last season, I put in a couple of performances in the cup, in the final, then after that break we had another final [Community Shield] which led to my England call-up not too long after that. Then a couple of months after that, it all died down, I wasn’t playing anymore … so it was strange, very strange.

“I went from having everything at my feet to everything taken away from me. I was trying to understand it on my own. But sometimes it’s not for me to understand, it’s for me to keep working hard, to keep doing what I do and I have to let other people understand it for me.

“It was difficult to take. You get called up for England, play regular football for your club, get to an England camp then it all disappears and you’re not playing for either. You don’t really get any contact from either manager, from international stage or club. I was thinking: ‘What you want me to do now? What am I supposed to do now?’”

He is philosophical about the difficult decisions facing Southgate in picking his squad. He notes that the England manager had said that he wants goalscoring midfielders, a part of Maitland-Niles’ game that, he acknowledges, is yet to flourish. He points out that others in his favoured position have been playing there consistently longer than him.

“I am not going to put that on Gareth saying ‘I need midfielders who score goals’ as the reason he didn’t pick me. He just felt he needed more goals in the team to help him win the Euros which is what he went and did. I think the squad he picked is still a great team that can do great things. I was gutted when I didn’t get picked. That was the whole reason for me going out on loan. To not even make the 33-man squad was … ‘Okay let’s start from square one again. Let's go back to the drawing board and see what the plan is for the next World Cup.’ It did hurt but at the end of the day I went out there and gave it my all.”

The question of Maitland-Niles’ best position has been a thorny one his whole senior career, and it is in central midfield where he sees himself ultimately. Having said that, he embraces his versatility at full-back. He also points out that Sam Allardyce would often use him in wide positions in the latter stages of games.
He wants to hear how Arteta sees his future – and he will not be alone. Willock will also want to know the same. Fellow academy graduate Eddie Nketiah has a single year left on his existing deal. So too Alexandre Lacazette. Mattéo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira return from their loans and Dani Ceballos and Martin Ødegaard head back to Real Madrid.

There is also doubt over the future of others, including Hector Bellerin, which naturally makes Maitland-Niles wonder how long it might take to resolve his own situation.

“You have to get your head around what you might not want to hear and be prepared if that’s the case,” he says. “Be a man about the situation. If it’s not going to work there then there’s always other clubs that will take you and I like to think that I’ve done enough in the Premier League in the last half of the season to have other clubs interested in me.”

Man, I won't mention Arteta's tactics, but reading this article he really needs to work on his man management. Feels like least he could do for AMN who's been at Arsenal since he was 7 is give it to him straight, either "we're gonna sell you" or "You're gonna be squad player. Don't like it? You can leave."

It's not all AMN's fault, but he does share in part of the blame for not being willing to put up as FB, which is his right, just like it is Arteta's right to sell him if AMN's not willing to do what Arteta says. I just wish Arteta didn't burn so many bridges along the way.

 

[Gooner416]

Yeah yeah. Arteta and his staff have killed his career by playing him in the position he had a real chance for a career at the top level in and forcing him to play apathetically and poorly in that position thi season.

Only thing they have done wrong by him (and the club, more), really, is not selling him last summer when they should've, so he might've got that wake up call earlier.

I look forward to seeing AMN play CM for a club better than Arsenal in the coming years. I am sure that will happen...

He actually was started at LB for the first time and then never played again after a poor game for good reason.

 

[AbouCuéllar]

He actually was started at LB for the first time and then never played again after a poor game for good reason.

Yeah, I mean at fullback, that's clearly the position he has (had?) a future at the top level in.

 

[kash2]

Yeah, I mean at fullback, that's clearly the position he has (had?) a future at the top level in.

yeah but we talking midtable mikel level ... frikking lacazette played #10 in this joke of a season, so get off your high horse.

 

[Iceman10]

Ainsley is pushing for a move, that's the only way I can interpret his words. I don't take players' sides against Arsenal though. If we sell we do so at a reasonable price, not a driven down price due to interviews like this. I don't see why clubs such as Southampton, Wolves, etc. won't still have interest in him, the main issue being his demand to play in CM, but if we can't get 15m+ for him this will have turned out to be another epic mess for this club.