Ainsley Maitland-Niles was keen on leaving Arsenal last summer, but a move never took shape, allowing him to spend the first half of the season at the Emirates.
Having been restricted to only two league starts under Mikel Arteta, the 24-year-old wanted to move elsewhere in the winter market. He managed to get a transfer organised in January when the midfielder sealed a loan move to AS Roma.
The England international has made six appearances in Serie A since then, but his performances have so far not been convincing.
On Monday, former Roma footballer Loris Boni admitted the Gunners owned player has not “impacted a lot” at the Italian capital club.
While José Mourinho has seen his side suffer only one league defeat in the last six matches, this also includes three draws in the last three fixtures.
Corriere dello Sport on Tuesday explain that the ‘evaluation is suspended for now’ on Maitland-Niles, who has failed to make any impact and is ‘showing technical limitation’.
When describing the Arsenal man and his displays for Roma so far, the newspaper states ‘this cannot be the real Maitland-Niles’.
There still seems to be hope for the player to improve his performances. Else, he will be the ‘real flop’ of the January transfer window for Mourinho’s side.
