Report: Wolves and Newcastle want to sign ‘absolutely magnificent’ £20m PL player

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Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United have thrown their hat into the ring for Arsenal’s £20 million man Ainsley Maitland-Niles, according to Sky Sports.

Versatility can be as much a curse as it is a gift.

Perhaps like a young Phil Jones at Manchester United, it is Maitland-Niles’ ability to adapt to numerous different positions that has secured him a regular place in the first-team picture at one of England’s biggest clubs.

This season alone, the 22-year-old academy graduate has played in central midfield, at right-back and, during the FA Cup final and semi-final, in a new look left wing-back role.

But Maitland-Niles obviously doesn’t fancy spending his entire top-level career flying down the flanks and squaring up to wingers.

He rose through the ranks at Arsenal as a technically gifted central midfielder and, as far as he is concerned, that is where his future should lie.

It remains to be seen whether Wolves or Newcastle, who are interested according to Sky Sports, will offer Maitland-Niles the ‘number eight’ role he has so publicly demanded.

The England U21 international should have little trouble forcing his way into Steve Bruce’s team in his favoured position. Maitland-Niles shares Isaac Hayden’s ability to ‘stick the boot’ in, but his passing range is superior to all of Newcastle’s midfielders not called Jonjo.

Only five top-flight teams averaged less than Newcastle’s 41 per cent possession per game last season but Maitland-Niles would help transition towards a more attacking, controlled style of play.

At Wolves, meanwhile, the FA Cup winner should fit in nicely alongside Ruben Neves, perhaps acting as a younger, more energetic alternative to the masterful yet ageing Joao Moutinho.

“Absolutely magnificent,” Arteta told the Metro of his £20 million-rated mdifeilder after the 2-0 FA Cup victory over Manchester City. “And I was sure about that with the way he’s training, the way he’s changed his mentality and his mindset.

“He has everything, he has great qualities, I believe in him. I had to give him opportunities and today he took it with both arms. He had a really good performance.”