Tony Cascarino raves about Arsenal youngster Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
The former Aston Villa and Chelsea striker was impressed with the performance of Maitland-Niles for Arsenal in their Europa League quarter-final second-leg tie against Napoli away from home in Italy last Thursday evening.
The 21-year-old, who is a very versatile footballer who can operate as a midfielder, winger or full-back, started the match and played for the entire 90 minutes, as Unai Emery’s side won 1-0 to progress to the semi-finals 3-0 on aggregate.
Cascarino has praised the England Under-21 international, and The Times and talkSPORT pundit has compared the Arsenal youngster to former Tottenham star Bale.
The Wales international and Real Madrid star, who remains a very popular player among the Spurs fans, started his career as a full-back, but the 29-year-old now operates as a winger and is one of the best players in the world.
Cascarino wrote in The Times: “I saw the next Gareth Bale on Thursday — and he was wearing an Arsenal shirt. Sorry, Spurs fans.
“Ainsley Maitland-Niles is a full back who is not really a full back, just like Bale when he joined Tottenham in 2007. He has fierce pace and gets in great positions to score and create chances.
“He has improved hugely and has benefited from the injury to the first-choice right back Hector Bellerín.
“He is more of a wing back but could easily play in midfield too. But after a few recent injuries, the worry is that his explosive style may make him injury-prone, like Bale.”
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