It isn’t often that a youngster features in the Premier League, Champions League and the FA Cup without having even been on the bench in the Capital One Cup, but that, amongst much else, is what Ainsley Maitland-Niles has achieved in a whirlwind season to date.
Just two and a half years ago Maitland-Niles was a schoolboy representing Arsenal at U16 level, but this campaign he has featured, albeit fleetingly, for the first-team against Newcastle United, Galatasaray and Hull City, as well as being an un-used substitute for the games against Stoke City and Southampton.
Why has he been catapulted into the first-team picture so quickly? Injuries to key players have been a contributing factor, but for many of the games listed above, Arsene Wenger could quite easily have selected another youngster, such as Gedion Zelalem or Dan Crowley, to be on the bench.
However, Wenger has been hugely impressed by Maitland-Niles’ transformation into an all-action central-midfielder this campaign. Having thrived last season as a winger, the England youth international has shone in his new position, demonstrating a good grasp of the defensive side of the game without losing the attacking threat that made him such an intriguing talent in the first place.
An intelligent player who is willing to fight for the team, Maitland-Niles has stated that his immediate ambition is to make a start for the first-team before the end of this season. With the rate at which he is accumulating appearances, you wouldn’t put it past him to achieve that aim.
Although perhaps not yet ready for regular starts at senior level, Maitland-Niles can be hugely encouraged by the way that he has commenced the season and having the faith of Wenger at such a young age bodes very well for his future prospects.
Still eligible for the U18s, but already a mainstay for the U21s and now on the fringes of the first-team, things are going very well indeed for Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
