{"id":617429,"date":"2022-09-01T17:15:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T21:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=617429"},"modified":"2022-09-01T17:18:36","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T21:18:36","slug":"arsenal-ainsley-maitland-niles-southampton-loan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/09\/01\/arsenal-ainsley-maitland-niles-southampton-loan\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal Outcast \u2018Too Versatile for His Own Good\u2019 Secures Move to Southampton"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Seemingly surplus to requirements at <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/09\/01\/arsenal-bid-aston-villa-douglas-luiz\/\" target=\"_self\">Arsenal<\/a>, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has secured a loan move to Premier League club <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/09\/01\/cody-gakpo-set-to-stay-psv\/\" target=\"_self\">Southampton.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FabrizioRomano\/status\/1565429251800797189\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fabrizio Romano<\/a>, the 25-year-old has joined Southampton on a year-long loan with an option to buy.<\/p>\n<h2>Ainsley Maitland-Niles Joins Southampton on a Season-long Loan<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Welcome to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SaintsFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#SaintsFC<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MaitlandNiles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MaitlandNiles<\/a> \ud83d\ude07<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SouthamptonFC\/status\/1565429287993352192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 1, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>An Underwhelming Loan Spell at AS Roma<\/h3>\n<p>Earlier this year, Arsenal allowed Maitland-Niles to leave the club on loan and join Jose Mourinho in Italy at Roma.<\/p>\n<p>This was meant to be the player&#8217;s chance to prove to the world that he had what it takes to be a top-level midfielder. But, it didn&#8217;t turn out that way.<\/p>\n<p>Joining the club in January, he made eight appearances in the Serie A, which is just below half of the remaining games.<\/p>\n<p>His frustrating spell in Italy was epitomised by the player him being an unused substitute in the club&#8217;s infamous 1-0 victory of Feyenoord in the Uefa Conference League final.<\/p>\n<p>It is hard to classify this loan move as anything but a disappointment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/09\/01\/barcelona-superstar-last-ditch-chelsea-move\/\" target=\"_self\">Barcelona Superstar Keen on Last-Ditch Chelsea Move<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>A Struggle for Game Time at Arsenal<\/h3>\n<p>And that was a shame for the midfielder because ever since Mikel Arteta joined the North London club, Maitland-Niles has found game time hard to come by.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, since the start of the 2020\/21 season, the Englishman has made just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transfermarkt.co.uk\/ainsley-maitland-niles\/leistungsdatendetails\/spieler\/285845\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">19 Premier League appearances<\/a> for the London club.<\/p>\n<p>Ex-Arsenal star Ashley Cole said that Maitland-Niles was &#8220;too versatile for his own good&#8221;, filling in wherever needed meaning he was never able to lock down a consistent position in the starting eleven.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\ud83d\udde3 &#8220;He was too versatile for his own good.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ashley Cole speaks about Ainsley Maitland-Niles&#8217; decision to leave Arsenal on loan to play central midfield <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WOVOPRu6zc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/WOVOPRu6zc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Football Daily (@footballdaily) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/footballdaily\/status\/1367530788858695680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 4, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>He does not seem to be part of Arteta&#8217;s plans, and therefore, this is a move that suits both parties.<\/p>\n<p>Ainsley Maitland-Niles is far too talented to be wasting away in the shadows at Arsenal, and regular first-team football is exactly what he needs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/09\/01\/swansea-city-duo-joel-piroe-michael-obafemi\/\" target=\"_self\">Swansea City Vital Goalscoring Duo Not for Sale Amidst Leeds United Interest<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>What Will He Bring to Southampton?<\/h3>\n<p>As mentioned, despite a frustrating couple of years for the player, Maitland-Niles is unquestionably a talented player.<\/p>\n<p>First and foremost, he brings versatility. This is perhaps his biggest asset. During his time at Arsenal, he has been deployed in central-midfield, at right-back and left-back and as a right wing-back showing that he can operate effectively in each and every one.<\/p>\n<p>Given that Ralph Hasenhuttl likes to be flexible and adapt to the opponent, Maitland-Niles&#8217; versatility is sure to come in handy in one way or another.<\/p>\n<p>The 25-year-old is also an incredibly physical player. As a matter of fact, one of his games in an Arsenal shirt came against their rivals <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/09\/01\/fabrizio-romano-alvaro-morata-manchester-united\/\" target=\"_self\">Manchester United<\/a>, in which he dominated a midfield consisting of both Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba. That is no easy feat.<\/p>\n<p>Southampton showed in their recent 2-1 victory over <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/category\/premier-league\/chelsea\/\" target=\"_self\">Chelsea<\/a> that they are not afraid to physically impose themselves in a match. Thi is especially against stronger opposition when they don&#8217;t see as much of the ball, and the addition of Maitland-Niles can only be of benefit in that regard.<\/p>\n<p>Ainsley Maitland-Niles may not be fancied by Mikel Arteta, but he is still an incredibly talented and versatile player. If Hasenhuttl can unlock his true potential, Southampton have themselves a very good player. Especially given that they have an option-to-buy clause if the move goes well.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ainsley Maitland-Niles has completed his loan move to Roma until the end of the season. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/v9dtKJsksC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/v9dtKJsksC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Charles Watts (@https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/09\/Top-Shelf-Prospects.jpg_watts) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/09\/Top-Shelf-Prospects.jpg_watts\/status\/1479833231377711110?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 8, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: static !important;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"position: static !important;\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seemingly surplus to requirements at Arsenal, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has secured a loan move to Premier League club Southampton. According to Fabrizio Romano, the 25-year-old has joined Southampton on a year-long loan with an option to buy. Ainsley Maitland-Niles Joins Southampton on a Season-long Loan Welcome to #SaintsFC, @MaitlandNiles \ud83d\ude07 &mdash; Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) September 1, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4305,"featured_media":617451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,8,3,20],"tags":[3190,930,6802,2604],"class_list":["post-617429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transfers","category-arsenal","category-premier-league","category-southampton","tag-arsenal-transfer-news","tag-emirates-stadium","tag-southampton-transfer-news","tag-transfer-deadline-day"],"modified_by":"Declan Wiseman, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}