It seems that Ainsley Maitland-Niles' exit might be further away than it looked like just last week - when Wolves were looking to plug a hole following Matt Doherty's sale to Spurs.
Evening Standard now claim that Niles has fought his way back into Arteta's thinking following 3 brilliant performances in the FA Cup and Community Shield. Here's a short reminder of what the Spaniard said after the win over Liverpool.
"He has to be able to convince me every day in training that he can compete at this level – not once every three months but every three days.
"The way he’s playing at the moment shows me that he can do it. His mentality, the way he is going about every single detail for the preparation of a football game, is much better than before."
To be fair, we would be gutted to see Ains leave. He is a product of our Academy and still quite young, so has a high ceiling - and we could certainly do with his qualities as a counter-attacking team.
It remains to be seen whether he can be a regular in a place with such high competition on both wings. Maybe his best chance lies in the centre of the park, where we might remain light in case Lucas Torreira leaves.
