Arsenal: Ainsley Maitland-Niles Loan Spoiled

Arsenal have quite the young talent in Ainsley Maitland-Niles, but time and again his mom steps in the way and becomes a nuisance. It happened again.

It’s hard to hold anything against someone’s mom when you know that their intentions are just to get the best out of their son. But that becomes less hard when considering the track record that Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ mother, Jule, who is also his agent, has accumulated.

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The incidents are compounding. Last year, Niles was responsible for an altercation that involved Arsenal chief negotiator Dick Law as well as two other club employees. The report indicated that Niles struck the three men and police were called, which led to her arrest.

Nothing more came out of this than a promptly-ignored ban from anything Arsenal.

This time, Niles has managed to spoil a loan spell for her son that had been going incredibly well. While on loan at Ipswich Town, Maitland-Niles has made 31 appearances, scoring twice and assisting twice. It was one of the few Arsenal loans without any hiccups and without any downfalls.

Crowley was returned early. Akpom and Hayden have been struggling for playing time. Zelalem has been feast of famine. Wellington is still flying under the radar.

But Maitland-Niles was succeeding.

Which is why it is rather ominous that he has been excluded from the team since Match 12th – a grand total of four missed matches. He is said to be returning for the next match, but that doesn’t make up for the month of missed time.

It’s pretty obvious what happened. Jules left a potent voicemail on Mick McCarthy’s phone about her son not being able to attend England’s kit launch. And then the talented winger disappeared.

Maitland-Niles has gobs of talent and he plays a position that Arsenal could always use more consistency at. He is one of the more promising prospects in Arsenal’s youth ranks and this loan at Ipswich has proven his quality. At just 18, it is pretty universally accepted that he has what it takes to make the grade at Arsenal.

But so many other players out there have just as much talent and much less liability for extracurricular interactions. Maitland-Niles career isn’t exactly in jeopardy but if he continues to hit roadblocks because of his mother’s negative choices, then these exiles and exclusions are going to become more and more frequent.

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When it comes to youngsters trying to make it at a top-tier club, the less roadblocks the better. Opportunities are only going to get scarcer. If his mother pulls a stunt like this when he is given a shot at Arsenal, the situation may not be so forgiving.