Chris Sutton has slammed Arsenal in his column for the Daily Mail after making Ainsley Maitland-Niles train away from the first-team, but admits his social media post was unwise.
The Gunners told Maitland-Niles that he would have to work away from Mikel Arteta’s squad on Tuesday if he failed to leave the club on Deadline Day, per The Telegraph (31/8, 10:22). But Arteta ultimately refused to sanction a deal after Everton made an approach.
The Toffees contacted the Gunners on Monday to negotiate a last-ditch loan for the 24-year-old, The Athletic claim. After which, Maitland-Niles took to Instagram urging Arsenal to let him leave, noting: “All I wanna do is go where I’m wanted and where I’m gonna play.”
Sutton admits Maitland-Niles was wrong to vent his frustrations in public, and will have to work hard to win his place at Arsenal. The England international remained at the Emirates following clear-the-air talks with Arteta, per the Evening Standard. And will hope he now gets opportunities to play, after featuring for just 19 Premier League minutes this season.
“One player who will need to work hard to get onside is Maitland-Niles,” Sutton wrote. “The player’s social media post, in which he made clear his desire to leave, was unwise.
“That was only ever going to anger his employers. But when I read that Maitland-Niles was training with the kids on Tuesday, I thought that was wrong. That doesn’t help anybody, it’s humiliating.
“Arteta’s kept hold of him, apparently after clear-the-air talks. I’m sure Maitland-Niles was assured he’ll get his chance to impress. We’ll see. In a way, Arsenal keeping a player against his will sums up the underwhelming status of the club right now.”
Were Arsenal and Arteta right to block Maitland-Niles’ Deadline Day exit?
Like Sutton claims, Arteta will likely have had to reassure Maitland-Niles that he will feature for Arsenal this season. And the Spaniard will have to live up to his commitments, if made, or risk a repeat scenario come January.
Arteta only fielded Maitland-Niles for 485 minutes over 11 Premier League appearances last season before joining West Brom on loan. The five-cap midfielder – who Arteta has often utilised at full-back – also started just five of his top-flight outings before January.
The new season has followed a similar trend, with Arteta leaving Maitland-Niles on the bench against Brentford and Chelsea. His introduction in the closing stages at Manchester City was also too late to make any difference to the result. While the Spaniard even left him on the bench against West Brom in the Carabao Cup until the 61st minute.
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