Report: Arteta could give Arsenal misfit another chance, months after Newcastle move blocked

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Ainsley Maitland-Niles could yet have another chance to shine at Arsenal when his loan spell with Southampton comes to an end.

That’s according to reporter Paul Brown, who told Give Me Sport that he thinks Maitland-Niles will be given a chance in pre-season.

Brown noted that Arsenal may need a bigger squad as they cope with Champions League action next season.

Brown added that Arsenal will likely give Maitland-Niles a chance to impress Mikel Arteta in pre-season.

Maitland-Niles is currently on loan at Southampton until the end of the season.

The 25-year-old’s Arsenal contract runs until the summer of 2024 so we’re really in now or never territory for Maitland-Niles.

Maybe Arteta will give Maitland-Niles another chance to shine but it’s hard to see him making a breakthrough.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles surely has no future at Arsenal

Maitland-Niles initially impressed under Arteta.

Used as a right or even left wing back, Maitland-Niles showed promise and even snubbed a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020.

It has all been downhill from there though and Maitland-Niles has managed just 19 Premier League appearances for Arsenal since the start of the 2020-21 season.

Loans to West Bromwich Albion and Roma didn’t take Maitland-Niles any closer to first-team action at Arsenal.

Southampton have had a look at Maitland-Niles this season but he has hardly been pulling up any trees.

Maitland-Niles has only started eight times for Southampton this season as they struggle against the drop.

That’s hardly preparation for a role with a title challenger in Arsenal.

It was hard enough for Maitland-Niles anyway but Arsenal have gone up a level this season with their title charge and Maitland-Niles surely doesn’t fit in.

The Telegraph claim that Maitland-Niles was keen to join Newcastle United in August but the move was blocked by Arsenal, who didn’t want to strengthen the Magpies.

It now even feels unlikely that Newcastle will go back in and Maitland-Niles’ future is unclear – except for our belief that he will have to leave Arsenal soon enough.