Loaned to AS Roma by Arsenal for the rest of the season, Ainsley Maitland-Niles was meant to be guaranteed minutes under José Mourinho.
The England international moved to Italy with that in mind, and while it all got off to a good start, starting and finishing the first two games he was eligible for, it’s all deteriorated since.
He hasn’t started the last two games against Spezia and Atalanta, which AS Roma have both won, meaning they could be better off without him.
The fact there was no pre-agreed option to buy in the deal struck with Arsenal means any future transfer would have needed to be negotiated from scratch, but the odds of the Italian side asking the Gunners to sit down and talk about Maitland-Niles are now slim.
Gazzetta dello Sport are the ones reporting this on Tuesday, with it said the player simply ‘did not convince’ when he was asked to play down the left, and the right-back slot is reserved for Rick Karsdorp in Mourinho’s eyes.
With him sitting out the last two fixtures, the ‘moral’ of the story is that because he is only on loan, Roma buying him from Arsenal in the future remains ‘a pipe dream’, which is why ‘it’s no coincidence’ that the rumours regarding a move for Diogo Dalot in the summer are re-emerging.
