It’s fair to say that Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ move from Arsenal to AS Roma in January hasn’t gone to plan.
Not playing regularly under Mikel Arteta with the Gunners, the England international decided to try his luck elsewhere, with José Mourinho seemingly keen to work with him in Italy as he needed a body to compete with Rick Karsdorp at right-back.
Starting in the first possible game against Juventus, he made some impact, but it wasn’t great, and things have never really improved since.
It’s gone so badly, in fact, that the Arsenal loanee has been on the bench for the last three Serie A games, with Corriere dello Sport now saying he ‘seems out of Mourinho’s plans’.
Describing him as a ‘flop’, the newspaper then explain how each of his performances have gone, all leading to the Portuguese’s decision to bench him for the game against Spezia on February 27th.