ARSENAL ace Ainsley Maitland-Niles seems set to leave the club after falling out of favour with boss Mikel Arteta.
The versatile Gunners star is likely to be offloaded in the summer after dropping down his Spanish manager’s pecking order.
According to The Athletic, the 22-year-old will be offloaded at the very next opportunity despite being contracted until 2023.
Arsenal are looking to fund a squad overhaul this summer and it will have to be from player sales as Arteta looks to strengthen his side to challenge for bigger things next campaign.
The Gunners sit ninth in the table and were on a miserable run of form before Covid-19 brought action to a halt in March.
Nine wins in 28 games has given the club cause for concern and Maitland-Niles could be the one to suffer the axe.
Maitland-Niles has made 91 appearances for the North London side since his 2014 debut and joined the club when he was just six.
But despite featuring regularly in legendary manager Arsene Wenger‘s last season at the Emirates and under his successor Unai Emery, he has not had the same game time since Arteta took over.
Five starts in the new boss’ first five games were followed by a spot on the bench at Chelsea in January but Maitland-Niles has not been seen in a matchday squad since.
It is thought Arteta has not taken kindly to Maitland-Niles arriving late to training a number of times.
His lack of punctuality and an abundance of right-back options – Calum Chambers, Hector Bellerin and Cedric Soares are also on the books – means Maitland-Niles could be shown the door.
If he does leave, Maitland-Niles can feel hard done by after rarely being given a chance to excel in central midfield – the position he publicly said he prefers.
