January 08, (THEWILL) – Ainsley Maitland-Niles, the versatile Arsenal English midfielder, has joined Roma on a season-long loan, having made just 11 appearances in all competitions this season for the Gunners.
The 24-year-old was supposed to leave the club this summer, with a deal to Everton seeming certain until Arsenal intervened. Mikel Arteta even banned Maitland-Niles from first-team training after he publicly criticised the Gunners on social media.
Although the two quickly reconciled, this has not resulted in more playing time this season. Roma has now offered him an opportunity to rejig his career, and the Giallorossi confirmed his arrival on Saturday.
Maitland-Niles told the Roma website: “I am just delighted to be here and can’t wait to crack on. I want to help the team and show what I can do as a player. Thank you to the fans for the support they’ve already shown me – I hope we can go on to do something great by the end of the season.”
The move makes Maitland-Niles the most recent ex-Premier League player to attempt a comeback in Italy. Chris Smalling, Fikayo Tomori, and, most recently, Tammy Abraham, have all executed the same move with great success.
Maitland-Niles and Roma, who are aiming for a top-four finish this season, will be hoping for similar success in Serie A.
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.
