August 30, (THEWILL) – Arsenal’s gifted English player Ainsley Maitland-Niles, decided on Monday to make his frustrations with his opportunities to play regularly at the English Premier League side public with a message he posted on the photosharing online platform Instagram.
Amid reports that the Gunners had rejected Everton’s bid to sign him on loan for the season, Maitland-Niles was seeing a dwindling of opportunities to feature in the squad selection of Mikel Arteta after three matches so far played.
The idea that Everton’s manager Rafa Benitez is interested in bringing the 24-year-old in at Goodison Park was welcoming to the player but the Emirates club instead snubbed the interest of the Toffees for their Hale End Academy graduate.
The news must have been behind his mind when Maitland-Niles literally took matters into his own hands to type out the message he thereafter posted on Instagram. He wrote: “All I wanna do is go where I’m wanted and where I’m gonna play,” then mentioned @arsenal and added three crying emojis.
THEWILL recalls that Maitland-Niles came on as a substitute in Arsenal’s 5-0 thrashing by Manchester City at the weekend and started the 6-0 win against West Brom in last week’s League Cup.
However, the Englishman believes he will have a better season to look forward to in a different team from Arsenal. The attraction of the revolution Benitez is initiating at Goodison Park is strong and having to experience that on loan appears an attractive prospect for Maitland-Niles.
Everton had hoped for that: to sign him on loan for the season with an option to buy at the season’s end.
But they have been stumped by the refusal of the Gunners to do business on Maitland-Niles’s behalf even with the player’s willingness, as demonstrated in the Instagram post.
Again, Maitland-Niles’ outburst is yet more bad news for under-fire Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, whose side are bottom of the Premier League table with three defeats from their opening three Premier League matches of the 2021/2022 campaign.
The reluctance of the club to let Maitland-Niles go cannot be removed from the manager’s attempts to assess the options at his disposal as he continues to seek means of kick-starting their season after the international break.
The headache Arteta has goes beyond just Maitland-Niles as the Tuesday deadline of the transfer window is just around the corner. Hector Bellerin also wants a fresh challenge away from the Gunners, while Willian is looking to seal a move to Brazil with Corinthians, all before Tuesday.
In addition to these, Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah is of interest to Crystal Palace but as it stands, they are being priced out of a move by the Gunners. Also, question marks over Bernd Leno’s future after Arsenal spent an initial £24m on goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale at Sheffield United remain to give Arteta more sleepless nights.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
