Exclusive: Brighton want Arsenal's Maitland-Niles
Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles is attracting interest from Brighton ahead of the summer transfer window, writes Simon Collings.
Despite starting Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final victory over Manchester City, Maitland-Niles has struggled for action this season.
It has led to speculation the 22-year-old, who is a product of Arsenal’s Hale End academy, could be open to leaving the club this summer and Brighton are understood to be tracking him ahead of a potential transfer.
The midfielder, who can operate at full-back too, still has three years to run on his current contract at Arsenal and head coach Mikel Arteta has indicated he wants him to stay.
Maitland-Niles is valued for his versatility - he played left wing-back against Manchester City on Saturday - and the fact he qualifies as a home-grown member of Arsenal’s squad is beneficial too.
“He’s a player who can play in many different positions, we have discussed the things in my opinion that he can improve or adapt to his game because he has incredible quality,” Arteta said last week.
“He has every quality that you need to be a football player to play the highest level and he just needs to do it in a little bit more of a consistent way, but he is someone who can adapt to any position as well.”
