Player Mikel Arteta once refused to sell finally gets the move he once begged for

Five years ago on deadline day, Ainsley Maitland-Niles was involved in quite a bizarre transfer saga.

Everton had made a late loan approach that was blocked by Arsenal, and a frustrated Maitland-Niles, desperate for regular football, took to Instagram.

“@Arsenal. All I wanna do is go where I’m wanted and where I’m gonna play,” he wrote on his story.

Despite essentially begging Arsenal to let him leave, Mikel Arteta and Edu held firm simply because Everton didn’t meet Arsenal’s demands at the time, so the move didn’t materialise.

Ironically, five years later, Maitland-Niles is finally getting his Everton move. According to The Athletic, the 29-year-old is expected on Merseyside for a medical on Tuesday in a deal worth around £4.2million from Lyon, where he has spent the last three years.

It’s always felt like Maitland Niles had unfulfilled potential at Arsenal. The Hale End graduate was such a naturally gifted player and his versatility made him a genuinely important player during Arteta’s early seasons as manager.

He was actually Arteta’s preferred right-back option when the manager first arrived in December 2019, and then played a starring role at left wing-back during the 2020 FA Cup run.

His form during the tail-end of the 2019-20 season earned him an England call-up on his 23rd birthday. Unfortunately, that was his peak.

Arguably, Maitland-Niles’ biggest problem was that he didn’t want to be a full-back, and instead he wanted to play in central midfield.

That ambition never quite materialised at Arsenal, and he tried to establish himself as a midfielder during loan spells at West Brom and Roma.

He was released in 2023 having made 132 senior appearances for the club before joining Lyon, where he has since reverted to being a right-back. What could’ve been!

Now, at 29, he is set to join one of Arteta’s former clubs, Everton, who are in need of a right-back following Seamus Coleman’s departure.