Ainsley Maitland-Niles has spent the season on loan at Southampton (Photo: Getty)
Mikel Arteta has suggested that he would like to keep Ainsley Maitland-Niles at Arsenal, with the Southampton loanee’s contract up in the summer.
The Arsenal manager made these comments in his pre-match press conference on Thursday ahead of the Saints’ trip to the Emirates, a game which Maitland-Niles can play no part in as he’s ineligible to face his parent club.
The versatile player has been one of Southampton’s better performers in what has been a poor season for the south coast club who sit bottom of the Premier League table and four points from safety.
Having struggled to solidify a place in the Gunners’ first team, the 25-year-old has spent much of the last three seasons out on loan, at West Brom, Roma and now Southampton, though has failed to make a significant impact starting just 11 league games this campaign.
And with his contract with Arsenal expiring in the summer, the question now turns to where the former England international’s future lies, with his parent club quite well-stocked at both right-back and his preferred central midfield position.
But now, Arteta has hinted that Maitland-Niles could well have a future in his team despite using him sparingly in recent years, saying: ‘He was a really important part.
‘It’s a player with incredible versatility that has played in many position. For different reasons, some personal, some professional he had to move around a lot.
Mikel Arteta seems keen on keeping Maitland-Niles at Arsenal (Photo: Getty)
‘We will discuss at the end of the season what’s best.’
Maitland-Niles is one of just two players at Arsenal whose contracts are up at the end of the season, the other being Reiss Nelson who has been tipped to sign a new deal but has also been linked to the likes of Brighton and West Ham.
For now, Arteta’s focus will be to get Arsenal back to winning ways after losing precious ground in the title race to Manchester City over the last few weeks, with their lead over the Citizens down to just four points.
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He added: ‘Very confident [we can bounce back]. Twists and turns are part of everything that you do.
‘It’s not always going to be a linear progression. You have to know that and you have to be prepared for that.
‘[The atmosphere] has to be electric. I want that crowd playing every single ball with our team and not being different from what we’ve experienced.’
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The 25-year-old’s contract is up in the summer.