According to a report from Football London, Hector Bellerin and Ainsley Maitland-Niles will both leave Arsenal on permanent deals in the summer transfer window.
The Gunners have a lot to do in the summer. At least one new striker, if not two, is a necessity, while additions in central midfield and possibly even at right-back are expected to be on Mikel Arteta’s wish list.
Arsenal showed last summer that they aren’t afraid to splash the big bucks on players they want. It won’t be a surprise to see them do the same this time, but they will have to offload a few players too.
Two such players are Bellerin and Maitland-Niles.
Arsenal want to sell Hector Bellerin and Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Both Bellerin and Maitland-Niles were key players for Arteta when he won the FA Cup back in 2020. However, neither seem to have a future at the Emirates.
The Spaniard is currently on loan at Real Betis, where he has had a decent season. There’s a good chance that he could join them permanently in the summer and the report claims that Arsenal are willing to let him go.
Maitland Niles, on the other hand, was loaned out to Roma in January. He impressed in his first few games under Jose Mourinho, but his performances since have been really poor.
It doesn’t look like the Giallorossi will make his loan move permanent in the summer.
Bellerin is naturally a right-back and Maitland-Niles’ best performances for Arsenal have come in the exact same position.
Arteta now has Takehiro Tomiyasu at his disposal and the Japan international fits the Arsenal boss’ style of play much better than the two players he has loaned out.
It’s no real surprise that Arsenal want to get rid of Bellerin and Maitland-Niles in the summer but it will be interesting to see who will make a move for them, especially for the Englishman.
Labelled as a player who ‘has a huge talent‘ by Arteta, Maitland-Niles’ versatility makes him a very attractive option for a number of clubs. However, he hasn’t really done enough in either of his two loan spells, which could put off a few teams in the summer.
