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Roma have confirmed the loan signing of Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
The midfielder joins the Giallorossi for the remainder of the 2021-22 season, having fallen down the pecking order at Emirates Stadium. GOAL can confirm Roma do not have the option to make the loan permanent.
Jose Mourinho sees Maitland-Niles as a player that can play all over the midfield, offering Roma a much-needed reinforcement amid the manager's complaints about squad depth.
What was said?
Speaking about his move to the Giallorossi, Maitland-Niles said: "I'm thrilled to be here and can't wait to get started.
“I want to contribute to the team and show what kind of player I am. Thanks to all the fans for the support they have already shown me. We hope to do great things from here to the end of this season”.
Roma general manager Tiago Pinto added: "With Maitland-Niles we deliver to Roma a young player who meets the requirements we were looking for to strengthen the team and who knows how to fill different roles.
"When we spoke to Ainsley, we were struck by his enthusiasm to join our group and make himself available to Mourinho."
Recent history
The 24-year-old midfielder made his Arsenal debut during the 2014-15 season, but truly broke out two seasons later with 28 appearances during the 2017-18 campaign.
He made 83 appearances over the next three seasons, but fell down the pecking order a bit under Mikel Arteta's reign.
He has featured just 11 times this campaign, having earned five England caps in 2020 after becoming an Arsenal regular under Unai Emery.
Another English player in Italy
Maitland-Niles becomes the latest English player to head to Italy in search of more regular football.
He joins Chris Smalling and Tammy Abraham at Roma, with the latter joining the club this past summer after falling out of favour at Chelsea.
Former Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori has also found a regular role in Italy featuring for AC Milan.
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