Aisnley Maitland-Niles has looked back on how he joined Arsenal’s academy, and the effect it had on his career.

Maitland-Niles officially joined Arsenal’s academy when he was just nine years old.

He’s progressed through the ranks all the way to the first team, where he broke through as a left back.

Before all that, he was playing up front for his local side Lakeview.

It was there that Arsenal’s scouts spotted the then seven-year-old Maitland-Niles.

“I was playing in the park,” he told Arsenal Player.

“They didn’t say anything to me but when I was sat in the car after the game, my dad turned around to me in the back seat and told me that there were scouts watching me.

“He didn’t exactly say who, but he told me that there were a few clubs watching me. I didn’t think anything of it at the time because I didn’t think about academies back then. I was just thinking that football was fun.

“I remember at my first Hale End trial there were loads of kids there.

“There were about 60 or 70 kids and we were split up into different teams. There were lots of pitches with different matches going on at the same time.”

It’s been a remarkable season for Maitland-Niles.

He was already on the fringes of the first team, but got his opportunity thanks to injuries to Sead Kolasinac and Nacho Monreal.

He did so well that he kept his place for crucial games against Liverpool and Chelsea.

Looking back on his journey to the first team, Maitland-Niles realises that joining the academy was a special moment.

“Now, I’d put joining the academy in the same category as making my first-team debut because now I know how much it really means to play for Arsenal. To go out there at Emirates Stadium every week is an amazing feeling,” he said.

“I don’t think I knew how much [joining Arsenal’s academy] meant to me back then but if I heard that about my own kid, if I had one, I’d be over the moon. I know how much it really means and what sort of pathway it can lead you to.”

Several of Arsenal’s Hale End graduates have made their first team debuts this season.

Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock, Eddie Nkeitah, Marcus McGuane and Josh Dasilva have featured in the Europa League and Carabao Cup.

Matt Macey and Ben Sheaf, who joined the club from other academies, have also made their first appearances.

Hopefully, we’ll see many more players take their first steps in the Arsenal first team.