Arsenal: 5 Ainsley Maitland-Niles midfield replacements

The January transfer window was always set to be centred heavily on outgoings for Arsenal, with the extensive squad rebuilding still far from over.

Beating Norwich 5-0 on Sunday afternoon, just two years ago when this fixture was last played at Carrow Road, half of the 18-man squad Arsenal put out are either no longer at the club or out on loan, and only two of that team started in Norfolk.

In other words, there has been plenty of change.

The like of which is still being undertaken, with the latest departee under Mikel Arteta’s tenure set to come in the form of Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Arsenal: 5 Ainsley Maitland-Niles midfield replacements as Mikel Arteta sanctions loan move with option to buy for Roma in January transfer window

Somewhat surprisingly, the club are to sanction a six-month loan departure to Roma for a fee of £600k, and by the end will have the option to purchase him permanently for around £8.4m. The idea of Maitland-Niles leaving isn’t surprising, but the circumstances are.

Mohamed Elneny and Thomas Partey are jetting off to Cameroon for the Africa Cup of Nations on January 3, two days after the Gunners’ next match against Manchester City, leaving behind them all of two senior central midfielders in Granit Xhaka and Sambi Lokonga.

The latter has only played nine minutes in the past six matches due to rotation and Covid, while Xhaka has done everything except rest.

Arsenal would not give the green light to this deal unless they had a plan in place, which seems to point towards the transfer market. Rather heavily, in fact. However, could they look elsewhere for solutions, no matter how temporary they may be? Internally, there are five names that spring to mind who could replace Maitland-Niles in the team.

1. Miguel Azeez

Sent out on loan with Portsmouth over the summer to earn valuable first team minutes, it hasn’t been the smoothest transition into men’s football for Miguel Azeez.

Dan Cowley has blooded him into action gradually since his arrival, making only a small handful of League One appearances in the first 20 matches of the season as he got to grips with the division.

Promising signs have hinted towards greater involvement, and at last it appears as if he’s been trusted to play an important part in Pompey’s midfield. Starting the last two top-flight matches, Portsmouth have kept two clean sheets, secured four points and Azeez got himself an assist.

He still has some way to go before he can claim himself to be a mainstay in the team even if Cowley is showing more willingness with him.

However, Arsenal do also have the option to recall him from his loan in January. Operating as a No. 8 on the south coast, he could be brought back to plug a Maitland-Niles shaped hole even if just for FA Cup matches or as a substitute.

Should Arsenal go down this road? No. Azeez is still only 19 years old and not ready for Premier League football, and the best place for him is still out on loan where he can continued mastering his craft.

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