da blaze casino： With Hector Bellerin only recently making his way back to full fitness, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has had to deputise at right-back in the Spaniard’s absence.
da mrbet： The Arsenal academy product has featured 21 times across all competitions this season, with 14 of them coming in the right-back role as per Transfermarkt. The 22-year-old has arguably been the victim of his own incredible versatility, playing in a stunning seven different positions in his entire career.
As a result of him being almost a ‘jack of all trades’ kind of player, he has never been able to nail down a single role at the club, with more than ten appearances in at least six of the positions he has been deployed in.
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But despite earning rave reviews from Arsenal fans for his performances this season, Mikel Arteta has gone on record to say that the club have been “playing with full-backs that are not full-backs”. It is therefore no surprise that Arsenal have looked to complete a loan swoop for Southampton defender Cedric, who is set to arrive until the end of the season.
And that spells incredibly bad news for Maitland-Niles. Whilst Bellerin was injured, the 22-year-old was the Gunners’ default first-choice at right-back, but Cedric’s arrival would most certainly leave him third in the pecking order now that the former has returned to fitness.
Whilst Maitland-Niles may harbour hopes that the signing of the Portuguese ace could help him compete for a midfield spot, the competition for places in that area of the pitch for Arsenal seems far too steep of a hurdle. The Gunners can call upon the likes of Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi, Dani Ceballos and Joe Willock amongst others.
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And in the right-midfield spot in which he has played 74 times throughout his career, he has Nicolas Pepe, Reiss Nelson and Gabriel Martinelli in his way. It is incredibly difficult to see where Maitland-Niles realistically fits into the Gunners’ line-up with Cedric’s proposed arrival.
Although Arteta may be reluctant to sell him, the 22-year-old could fade away into first-team obscurity with how things have panned out. For a player who was once lauded by Arsene Wenger as “the future” back in 2017, it is particularly damning that Arsenal’s utility man may not have that big of a use anymore.
Meanwhile, Arsenal fans are buzzing with Charles Watts’ insight into Pablo Mari’s loan deal.