Roma are keen to give Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles the chance to reignite his career in Serie A in January.
The 24-year-old saw a summer switch to Everton collapse late on, after which he took to social media to urge the Gunners to let him leave in search of regular first-team football.
Since then, Maitland-Niles has featured in eight Premier League games, just two of which were as a starter, and he has not made it on to the pitch in any of Arsenal’s last six matches.
A January exit is on the cards, and The Athletic state that Roma have added Maitland-Niles to a list of potential targets once the transfer window opens.
Jose Mourinho’s side have reached out to Arsenal to discuss a loan deal and Maitland-Niles is understood to be keen to make the move. Everton also remain interested in a loan but the versatile midfielder would rather head overseas.
Mourinho is working with Roma general manager Tiago Pinto to identify potential targets in the Premier League. As part of their strategy to move for out-of-favour stars in the English top flight, they came close to signing Granit Xhaka in the summer and eventually struck a deal to sign striker Tammy Abraham from Chelsea.
A move to Roma would see Maitland-Niles link up with fellow Englishmen Abraham and Chris Smalling, while former Arsenal teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan is also part of Mourinho’s squad.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has praised Maitland-Niles for keeping his head down and trying to force his way back into the side, but the 24-year-old remains out of favour and hopes to reignite his career elsewhere.
With 18 months left on his contract, Arsenal will likely look to offload Maitland-Niles permanently in the near future, with a summer exit from the Emirates appearing the most likely outcome at this point.
