Roma have reportedly made a bid to sign versatile Arsenal star Ainsley Maitland-Niles on loan, with a view to a permanent transfer.
Although the Serie A giants would ideally like to sign Maitland-Niles permanently straight away, they can’t currently afford it, but still want to bring the 24-year-old in quickly as they have some important games coming up soon, according to The Athletic.
Arsenal fans may be disappointed by this development, as it seems Maitland-Niles has never really had as many first-team chances as he really deserved.
Whenever called upon, the England international has shown real promise in Mikel Arteta’s side, but it might now be the best thing for him to move on if he wants to play more often.
It could be great for Maitland-Niles’ development if he can get a move to a big club like Roma, and learn from an experienced manager like Jose Mourinho.
The Athletic suggest, however, that this is far from done as Arsenal are yet to respond to Roma’s offer, and it could be that the player will end up staying at the Emirates Stadium until the end of the season.
The report seems to indicate that Roma is Maitland-Niles’ only option at the moment, so if that move falls through there probably won’t be another deal in the works this winter.
If Arsenal stall long enough, it might be that Roma will move on to other targets due to their apparent desire to get this done as quickly as possible.