West Ham United have been heavily linked with a move to sign Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Arsenal this summer.
And one of the leading Twitter personalities in the Arsenal community – Pedro from Le Grove, has given us the lowdown on what the Gunners star could offer us.
The 24-year-old is on the Hammers’ radar ahead of transfer deadline day according to the likes of The Evening Standard, who claim that Arsenal have actually offered him to David Moyes.
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The Scot has already been extremely busy in the transfer market this summer, and has brought in seven new faces. It seems as though Lucas Paqueta could become our eighth addition (L’Equipe).
Once a deal to sign the Brazilian gets wrapped up, Moyes should be on the look-out for a utility man who can operate in various positions.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles could well be that man, and the Arsenal ace is available for around £20 million this summer, according to The Daily Mail.
Is he worth that much though? And do the Hammers really need to sign him? Pedro from Le Grove has given us all the info we need about the Arsenal man…
West Ham Ainsley Maitland-Niles verdict
We sat down with leading Arsenal blogger Pedro from Le Grove, and asked him numerous questions about the five-capped England international…
What is AMN’s BEST position?
“Without doubt, by some margin… he’s a right back. Ainsley will push the idea that he’s a central midfielder, but this has played out at West Brom and Roma and it didn’t work out. He was so average for West Brom, Sam Allardyce suggested that he should just do what his manager tells him to do, and play at right-back. In his better position, he’s immense. He has high levels of technical ability, he’s one of the best athletes at Arsenal, and he can execute instructions at a high level.”
Is he a player that will excite the West Ham fans?
“I’m not sure he’s an exciting player, unless you are talking about penalty shootouts… there’s literally no one calmer or more relaxed from 12 yards out. As a right back, he has a little bit of flair, the issues come when he’s in midfield, he’s quite sloppy and sometimes tries to do too much.”
Does he work hard and have a good attitude on and off the pitch?
“This is questionable. If he had a good attitude, he’d have taken the right back back-up role at Arsenal and he wouldn’t be moving. He’s not a problem, but I think there’s been a view at Arsenal that he lacks concentration and focus on his career.”
Has AMN disappointed you and failed to reach expectations from the Arsenal fans ?
“I love the player, but he’s disappointed me by not grabbing his Arsenal opportunity. He’d have picked up 35 games last season. If he’d played at right-back, he’d have developed his game, and he’d be getting minutes this season. But it wasn’t to be and he’ll have to find his potential somewhere else. If he does work things out, he’s going to be a top, top player. He has it all to be successful.”
What would be a fair price to pay for AMN?
“£8-10m really. He’s tanked his loan spells. We have no need for him. He’s a very rough diamond, there’s risk associated with him, but if things click, you have a very capable talent to work with.”
So then…it’s clear to see that Maitland-Niles is at his best when playing in the right-back position.
It’s debatable whether West Ham need to strengthen in that particular department at the moment. However, having said that, Vladimir Coufal has undoubtedly regressed over the past year.
And if West Ham manage to pick AMN up from Arsenal for around £10 million or so, we’d be more than happy to see the Goodmayes-born ace rock up at the London Stadium this summer.
You can follow Pedro here @LeGrove
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