da premier bet： Journalist Charles Watts has slammed Arsenal for not selling Ainsley Maitland-Niles sooner as he looks set to leave this summer.
What's the latest Arsenal transfer news?
da dobrowin： At the start of the Premier League season, the 25-year-old was sent out on loan to Southampton and it looks as though that spelt the end of his time in north London.
Indeed, in a recent interview with The Athletic, he confirmed he will be leaving Mikel Arteta's team at the end of the campaign when his contract expires.
Maitland-Niles said: “It’s been a great journey but it has come to an end. It’s time for a fresh start and to find a new home. I’m looking forward to that, but at the same time my head’s not quite there yet and it’s all about what’s happening now with Southampton.”
This means, of course, the player is going to depart without Arsenal receiving any transfer fee for the £35k-per-week England international.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Watts expressed his disappointment at this, noting that the club should have chased in on the defender when his value was higher.
He said: "Arsenal turned out so many bids, or certainly more than one bid from Wolves a few years ago after that FA Cup win to keep him – you know, bids over £20m – and then they kept him and then just didn't play him, and he didn't want to play in the position they were hoping to play him in and then the relationship broke down a little bit, and now he's going to end up leaving on a free.
"And you just think, why didn't you just accept those bids from Wolves after the FA Cup final and get £20m or whatever it was at the time from them, bank it, let him go and move on?
"You just look back at that as a big missed opportunity for Arsenal to get some money in, and a missed opportunity for Ainsley Maitland-Niles, really, to build on because he's just stagnated since then."
Is Ainsley Maitland-Niles leaving Arsenal?
As alluded to by Watts, Premier League rivals Wolves did once bid at least £15m for the player but it seems as though the Gunners were holding out for upwards of £20m.
In the end, the negotiations broke down but it seems as though the player's value has only deteriorated from there.
Indeed, that offer came in the summer of 2020, with Maitland-Niles also making his international debut and playing five times for England in the same year.
Since then, however, he has not added to his Three Lions caps – proving how he's hardly excelled at club level.
All in all, it does feel as though if Arsenal could turn back time they would simply accept whatever bid was on the table from Wolves as he will now almost certainly leave for free just a few years later.