Mikel Arteta expects talks over Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ Arsenal future

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits the will sit down and sort out Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ future at the club this summer.

The Gunners take on Southampton in the Premier League on Friday night in what could be a real banana skin.

League leaders against bottom of the table always sounds easy but Arsenal need to respond after two successive draws.

Mikel Arteta will want to avoid complacency in this game and get Arsenal back on track.

One man Arsenal won’t be running into on Friday night is Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

The 25-year-old is currently on loan at Southampton for the season, so is ineligible to face his parent club.

Maitland-Niles hasn’t exactly shown that he has a future at Arsenal.

With just 11 Premier League starts to his name, Maitland-Niles has endured a difficult spell on the South Coast.

Maitland-Niles will sit out Friday’s game but the subject of his long-term future will be coming along soon enough.

Mikel Arteta comments on Arsenal Maitland-Niles future

Arteta initially seemed to take to Maitland-Niles, handing him an important role back in 2020.

That tempted Maitland-Niles into staying put and signing a new deal, but it just hasn’t worked out for him since then.

Loans to West Bromwich Albion, Roma and now Southampton haven’t taken him any closer to Arsenal action.

Maitland-Niles is out of contract in 2024 and Arsenal will surely field offers to bring in some cash for the homegrown utility man.

Arteta has now discussed Maitland-Niles’ future whilst speaking to Football London.

Arteta has noted that Maitland-Niles was vital in the 2020 FA Cup win and has shown ‘incredible versatility’.

The Spaniard notes that he will sit down with Maitland-Niles this summer to figure out the best step moving forward – which we would imagine is a permanent exit.

“He was a really important part [of the FA Cup win]. It’s a player with incredible versatility that has played in many different positions which at the end, for different reasons – some professional, some personal – he’s had to move around,” said Arteta. “At the end of the season we will sit down and decide what is the best thing for everyone to do to move forward,” he added.