AS Roma’s English contingent is set to grow over the next month, with the Italian club close to completing a loan deal for versatile Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
The Giallorossi have agreed to sign Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles on loan for the remainder of the season, as per several reports. The Englishman is due to have medical examinations with the Roman club shortly, following which, he will go through the personal terms – not expected to be an issue – and formally sign the agreement.
Roma, coached by former Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho, initially wanted to include a ‘buy’ option in Maitland-Niles’ loan deal – which the Gunners refused. The Gunners countered with a straight loan deal, which, in turn, the Serie A giants accepted.
As per The Athletic, Roma’s initial plan was to buy the Englishman in the current transfer window, but, lacking funds, were left to take the loan route. To do the same, they planned to sell three of their current players out on loan – Cengiz Under and Pau Lopez (both Marseille) and Justin Kluivert (OGC Nice) – which they haven’t been able to yet.
Despite there being an absence of an option to buy Maitland-Niles after the end of his six-month loan, it remains to be seen whether the Italian club approaches Arsenal intending to sign him permanently in the summer in a separate deal.
Maitland-Niles will join compatriots Tammy Abraham and Chris Smalling in Rome, should the deal go through smoothly. Abraham joined the outfit in the summer from Chelsea in a big-money move, while Smalling arrived in summer 2019 on a similar loan deal before returning next year to sign permanently.
An Arsenal academy graduate, Maitland-Niles has been a regular member of the first team since 2017. He did spend the latter half of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign out on loan at West Bromwich Albion but returned six months later to be reintegrated into the squad.
