Ainsley Maitland-Niles speaks out on his public plea to leave Arsenal

Maitland-Niles’s plea to leave Arsenal

Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ Arsenal troubles over the summer have of course been widely documented.

Everton would be linked with a move for the midfielder towards the end of the summer transfer window.

However, it was then reported that Arsenal had told AMN that they now wanted him to stay put. This led to Maitland-Niles venting his frustrations at not being able to leave on social media:

🚨 Ainsley Maitland-Niles on Instagram 🚨 pic.twitter.com/MkGHcEUGUV

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 30, 2021

It was then reported that Maitland-Niles was told he will not be training with Arsenal’s first-team:

After his move to Everton was blocked, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has been told he won’t be training with the Arsenal first team. More @MirrorFootball

— John Cross (@johncrossmirror) August 31, 2021

Maitland-Niles speaks out on summer window

Maitland-Niles has since seemingly been able to win back favour under Mikel Arteta, who has actually been using him in his favoured central midfield role instead of at wing-back.

This has, in part, been due to the persistent injury/suspension issues of Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey.

And with both out on Sunday against Watford, Maitland-Niles would be handed his first full 90 minutes in the Premier League this term.

The 24-year-old put on a stellar showing as Arsenal edged out a 1-0 win. Now, speaking out after the game, Maitland-Niles was asked about his public plea to leave Arsenal over the summer, stating:

“That’s all in the past now. 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.

“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.”

Quotes via the Evening Standard.

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