Arsenal duo Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson are reportedly close to leaving the club this summer as there is no place for them in the squad.
Arsenal have spent big in the transfer window so far this season. But to spend big, the Gunners have to let go of certain players to free up space in the team as well as the wage bill. Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson appear to be next up on the chopping block as the new arrivals in the team have pushed them to become fringe players.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles has spent the majority of his senior career at Arsenal away on loan spells. The player spent the 2015-16 season on loan at Ipswich Town, after which he made a breakthrough in the Gunners’ first team. He was a part of the team that won the FA Cup in 2017.
However, since 2021, the player was again sent out on loan to clubs like West Bromwich Albion and AS Roma. It is safe to say that Maitland-Niles has failed to get a foothold in the Arsenal first team, and after his outburst in 2021 where he claimed publicly that he’d rather play somewhere where he was “wanted”, it is best for him and the club that he moves on.
A move away looks likely as Premier League club West Ham United have registered interest in the wantaway star. According to ExWHUemployee, West Ham are exploring possibilities regarding a loan move for Maitland-Niles in the coming days.
In the past, CBS reporter Ben Jacobs told GiveMeSport that the Gunner had definitely enquired to West Ham about the possibility of signing their star man Jarrod Bowen. It is now being said that the Gunners would be using AMN in a potential player plus cash deal that would satisfy both parties.
The 24-year-old had been on the radar of Nottingham Forest as well but they recently signed Liverpool’s Neco Williams as an alternative.
On the other hand, there were talks that another academy graduate, Reiss Nelson might be on his way out from the club after failing to impress on his loan stints at Hoffenheim and Feyenoord. The 22-year-old had made his breakthrough into the senior squad at the same time as AMN under the stewardship of Arsene Wenger but hadn’t been shown the same faith by current manager Mikel Arteta.
However, The Athletic reports that the young winger may get chances to impress Arteta in the coming season as the young manager is open to providing opportunities to the fringe players to prove themselves.
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Arsenal had pursued Leeds United star, Raphinha, to the very end until Spanish giants FC Barcelona swooped in with a £55 million offer to lure the player away, indicating that the Gunners do have the finances necessary to sign a world-class winger who can provide competition to the current mainstays Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe.
However, with the manager willing to give certain players second chances, Reiss might end up becoming a regular on the Arsenal bench in the coming season. However, the same cannot be said about Maitland-Niles who probably has no future under Mikel Arteta.
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