Transfer troubles

It was only Saturday lunchtime that we were pumped by Manchester City, and yet somehow it feels like a lifetime ago. The defeat showed up glaring weaknesses in the squad that need to be addressed, although in fairness there was nothing there that wasn't already known. So, with the transfer window closing at 11pm tonight, you would think that there would be a buzz of activity and communication from the club. Yet there has been nothing.

Well nothing in terms of incomings anyway, which is all anyone really wants to hear about. there has however been plenty of drama surrounding potential outgoings, not least with Regards to Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Reports mid morning suggested that Everton had approached Arsenal looking to loan Ainsley for the season. This was rejected by the club, a decision which I agree with personally as I think we should be looking at cash sales only at this point, rather than watching an asset's value diminish further. I appreciate the view that we aren't playing him anyway, but he is still a player that we should be looking to cash in on. If an obligation to buy was included in Everton's offer, then I would of course have no issue with the deal being sanctioned, but these are details for Edu to thrash out, not me. It was then reported later in the day that Arsenal intend to keep Maitland-Niles for the season.

Anyway, it seems that Ainsley did not take the rejected offer very well, posting the below on his personal Instagram account:

Now, Maitland-Niles is a player who played as a wing back to great effect in the semi final and final of our most recent FA cup triumph, as well as on many other occasions. Obviously he is player frustrated at the lack of playing time, especially when he is seeing someone as inept as Cedric starting ahead of him this season in big games. However, he also made it perfectly clear last season that he only wanted to be considered for a midfield role, thus turning down loan moves to both Southampton and Leicester to go an play with Sam Allardyce at West Brom. At the conclusion of said loan, "Big Sam" said that he might be better off knuckling down and playing where he's needed, rather than setting his sights on being a midfielder, extolling the virtues of being a utility player, such as AMN has been for Arsenal thus far.

It was reported later in the day that Maitland-Niles has made himself available to Arteta as a full back this year. Perhaps in an attempt to build bridges, perhaps he is following Allardyce's advice, or perhaps he has finally noticed the glaring opportunity in front of him if he works hard as a right back. 

The problem is, why would Arteta trust him now? I'm not here to defend the manager. Lord knows he's made mistakes. But when he wanted a right back Maitland-Niles made it clear that wasn't for him and Arsenal ended up lumbered with Cedric. The same Cedric he now sees ahead of him in the pecking order while he struggles to get any game time.

So, back to the post. It's obviously very unprofessional of Maitland-Niles. Whoever is advising him clearly needs to have a word. but this is a player who wants to play and saw an opportunity to do that snatched away from him. Rather than helping to force a move away, all this does is shine more unwanted media attention on a club that is already in disarray. This will obviously not reflect well on Ainsley, and it remains to be seen if and how this is handled internally.

Other than the AMN drama, it appears that Eddie Nketiah is also not going anywhere, after a deal could not be agreed with Crystal Palace. it appears that there was an insurmountable difference in valuation, which for Arsenal comes across as really amateurish to me. Yes, you want to get the best value for you player (See Maitland-Niles), but this is a player in the last year of his contract who we received a cash offer of £10m-£12m. It seems foolish that we wouldn't budge on our £20m valuation and find a compromise. On a player level, we are now likely stuck with a player who will be fourth choice striker at best, with limited opportunities to play, who will likely leave on a free next summer now. Really poor all around.

  


All in all it was a really poor day for the club, and one that it scarcely needed. With only hours of the window remaining and a fractured fanbase out for blood, Arteta and Edu have to do something spectacular to salvage some form of goodwill over the international break. They know what business needs to be done. The question is, are they up to the task? Their jobs may depend on it.

Until the next one

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