According to Duncan Wright of The Sun, Tottenham Hotspur are interested in Ainsley Maitland-Niles and may have to battle West Ham, Crystal Palace and Fulham for his signature. Arsenal ‘hope’ to sell the 22-year-old for £30m but could accept £20m as clubs are operating on reduced transfer budgets due to their dwindling revenue amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Does this mean Serge Aurier will be sold?
Probably. AC Milan are showing interest in the 26-year-old and we’re happy to let him go for the right price this summer. Aurier has been a regular under Jose Mourinho, but he’s been inconsistent and is believed to want a move away from Tottenham.
The money made from Aurier’s sale will be reinvested, but we can’t let him go without a replacement being lined up as Kyle Walker-Peters and Juan Foyth could also be sold in the same transfer window. We’d be left with only Japhet Tanganga at right-back next season.
Why are Arsenal selling Maitland-Niles?
The 22-year-old made 32 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal last season, but he lost his place in the side after January (6/14 Premier League appearances, 172/1260 minutes). Hector Bellerin and Cedric Soares are able right-backs, so Mikel Arteta can afford to sell Maitland-Niles to generate much-needed funds.
The Sun admit that Arsenal would rather keep the versatile Englishman but are making a calculated business decision – they’re willing to accept 33% less than his initial valuation too, so clubs are getting a better deal. It remains to be seen whether we’ll bite, however.
Chances of us actually completing a deal?
Slim. We’ve only completed three pieces of business with Arsenal post-millennium – Sol Campbell (free transfer to Arsenal in 2001), Rohan Ricketts (free transfer to Tottenham in 2002), William Gallas (free transfer to Tottenham in 2010). We’ve only signed 12 players from the Gunners since the 1800s and have sold them 11 in that time too.
Even if Arsenal are desperate for money, it’s hard to see them strengthening our squad with a player they’d like to keep. With many other London clubs interested in Maitland-Niles, they’d much prefer he move elsewhere. We’ve got other irons in the fire too – Max Aarons of Norwich City, Zeki Celik of LOSC Lille, Youcef Atal of OGC Nice and Achraf Hakimi of Real Madrid.
Summary
Maitland-Niles isn’t a bad player and would be an improvement on Kyle Walker-Peters and Juan Foyth, but is Daniel Levy really going to sanction a £20m deal for the Arsenal wide-man? Is he good enough to oust Serge Aurier next season? Doubtful.
In other news, Tottenham could sell an out-of-favour centre-back