Arsenal: Ainsley Maitland-Niles may have to reinvent himself… again

Ainsley Maitland-Nile has thrice had to reinvent himself to make it at Arsenal, but he may be looking at a fourth time if he wants to continue moving forward.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles became a bit of a gem for Arsenal. He was on the same, unfortunate path as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but unlike Ox, Maitland-Niles reinvented himself and embraced the opportunity that was given to him.

He didn’t raise a stink about it, he didn’t expect the team to bend themselves to accommodate him. Instead, he saw an opening and grabbed it. Which worked magnificently. He went through that age-old transformation of winger-turned central midfielder-turned right wingback-turned rightback.

He’s gone where the opportunity arose, all the while harboring intentions of playing in the central midfield, but now that he has settled into rightback, it may be time for him to yet again reinvent himself with the hopes of finding another home.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that Maitland-Niles isn’t going to fit at rightback anymore. Hector Bellerin and Calum Chambers both ave to take precedence at this point.

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Maybe we should have seen this coming, but the progression that Maitland-Niles was showing made me believe that he had a legitimate chance of holding down the role. Besides, no one really expected Chambers to land there either.

Maitland-Niles last start came at right wing, but it’s more of the same there. With the rise of Bukayo Saka and Reiss Nelson, the arrival of Nicolas Pepe and the versatility of Gabriel Martinelli, Maitland-Niles is going to be just as hard-pressed to find an opening in the attacking portion of the pitch.

Which could lead him back to central midfield, but the problem there is that Joe Willock is currently doing exactly what Maitland-Niles wants to be doing. Same with Matteo Guendouzi. The good news (for him, at least) is that Dani Ceballos is only on loan, Mesut Ozil is on his way out, and you just never know with Granit Xhaka (or Lucas Torreira, for that matter).

There has been a lot of reinvention with Maitland-Niles in his short career, but in order to make this really work, he may have to continue on that reinvention road to find joy in a long-term future here.

We all know the kid has talent. Maybe the biggest favor Unai Emery can do him is letting Calum Chambers start where he belongs. At centerback. Then Maitland-Niles has a fighting chance.