Roma have made an offer for Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles that would see the player move to the Italian capital on an initial loan until the end of the season.
The Serie A side have not shied away from the English market in recent years, long before Jose Mourinho was appointed at the club, having signed the likes of Chris Smalling, Tammy Abraham, Edin Dzeko, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Rui Patricio directly from Premier League clubs.
Maitland-Niles, who has started only twice in the league so far this season, could be the latest to make that switch should Arsenal find Roma’s apparent offer acceptable.
The Daily Mail writes that the offer on the table is loan until the end of the season followed an £8.4m (€10m) option to buy in the summer. The deal would include a £600,000 loan fee.
Initial negotiations are said to have taken place before Christmas, which has now led to a formal offer being presented.
Maitland-Niles has long been frustrated with his fringe status at Arsenal. He moved to West Brom on loan in the second half of last season and looked set for a summer transfer for Everton until the transfer was blocked by the Gunners.
That led to a controversial social media post from the 24-year-old, who wrote on Instagram afterwards that he just wants to ‘go where I'm wanted and where I'm gonna play’.
Following that, Maitland-Niles was briefly told to train away from the Arsenal first-team. He has come back into the squad since but hasn’t made a Premier League appearance since 20 November.
Should he leave Arsenal now, he would do so having made 122 appearances in all competition in four and a half years as a permanent first-team player.
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Source : 90min