In what appears to be the final stretch of Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ loan transfer to AS Roma, the Arsenal player is expected to land in the Italian capital this afternoon.
The news comes from Gianluca Di Marzio, who took to Twitter to simply let the world know that the Gunners player, who will spend the next six months playing under José Mourinho, will arrive at 3.30pm local time (2.30pm UK time) at Ciampino airport.
This will bring a relatively short and sweet saga to an end, as Tiago Pinto wanted to avoid a repeat of the summer mess that was his attempt to sign Granit Xhaka from Arsenal.
That’s why a straight loan, with a small fee up front, was sorted out quickly, with previous reports claiming a future fee would be discussed between the two clubs during the remainder of the campaign, thus allowing the player to join his new side as quickly as possible.
In fact, the aim was to have him ready to potentially feature against Juventus at the weekend.
With his arriving in Rome this afternoon, that could certainly happen if all the paperwork is done in time.
#MaitlandNiles 15.30 Ciampino 🛬 @OfficialASRoma #calciomercato @SkySport
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) January 7, 2022
