Past summer time brought an conclusion to a 19-year keep at Arsenal for Ainsley Maitland-Niles (26) when the club made a decision in opposition to triggering the possibility to extend his deal for another yr letting for the midfielder to make the swap to France where by he joined Olympique Lyonnais.
It was a peaceful close to a club he experienced joined as a five-12 months-aged and a person that he would be leaving as an England global and an FA Cup winner. An conclusion a lot more demonstrative of his increasingly decreased location in the squad and his recent yrs farmed out on mortgage to distinct sides.
His very last overall look for his boyhood club came in 2021 as a substitute in the 4- loss to Liverpool, and past season whilst he was on financial loan at Southampton, the midfielder discovered to The Athletic that his conversation with Arsenal had dried up.
It was no surprise then that he left in the summer time at the end of his contract, the creating had been on the wall for some time that there was no spot in the squad for the adaptable midfielder. In spite of this, he continues to be fiercely devoted to the London aspect, and in a latest interview with L’Équipe opened up on what it meant to enjoy for the crew he experienced supported because he was born.
‘It was a dream come accurate’ – Ainsley Maitland-Niles on playing for Arsenal
“It was a desire come genuine,” Maitland-Niles explains. “Arsenal is my father’s club, my brother’s club, I think that’s why I performed there. I stayed at Arsenal for 19 many years, with a handful of loans in the center. It’s a specific club. You have to be there to sense it. ‘Alex’ [Lacazette] could make clear it to you. The enjoy for Arsenal in no way leaves you.”
GFFN | Nick Hartland