Arteta’s work begins as one Arsenal exit sanctioned amid Everton interest
Arsenal full-back Ainsley Maitland-Niles will be allowed to leave on loan when the transfer window re-opens, according to a report.
Maitland-Niles enjoyed a solid breakthrough season with the Gunners in the 2017/18 campaign helped by a fairly regular role under former boss Unai Emery.
However, having featured in all five of Mikel Arteta’s first Premier League games in charge, the 22-year-old has fallen out of favour under the Spaniard.
According to Todofichajes, Arteta has cleared the defender’s exit but is keen to allow him to go out on loan.
Maitland-Niles has three years left on his Gunners contract and Arteta will likely give him a chance to impress at another club before making a final decision on his future at Arsenal.
The source adds that Maitland-Niles is “already working on his goodbye” and has received interest from Everton, Manchester City and Newcastle.
There would also be interest from France, Germany and Italy, although it is not made clear which clubs would be keen.
Maitland-Niles played only a minute in Arsenal‘s victories in the fourth and fifth rounds of the FA Cup and the first leg of the Europa League last 32 tie against Olympiacos earlier this season, before not featuring in the second leg.
Indeed, reports claimed that Arteta sent an ultimatum to the player after the fifth-round win over Portsmouth, telling him that he must work harder if he is to have a place in the side.
AC Milan and Inter Milan have both previously been credited with interest in Maitland-Niles.
Arteta is set to make key decisions on his defence in the coming 12 months, given that William Saliba will arrive back from his loan at Saint-Etienne in the coming months and Pablo Mari’s loan deal from Flamengo in Janaury will likely be made permanent.
As such, the futures of Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Shkodran Mustafi and David Luiz – whose contracts expire next summer – are unclear.
Luiz, 33, has reiterated his desire to see out his career at Benfica while Mustafi was recently linked with Milan.
In other news, Arsenal are said to be ready to open talks with Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho, who will not be staying at Bayern Munich when his loan deal expires.