Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Hector Bellerin are both set to leave permanently this summer following their loan spells, according to a report.
Football.London report that both Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Hector Bellerin are set to leave Arsenal on permanent deals this summer.
Maitland-Niles is currently on loan at AS Roma, whilst Bellerin is on loan with Real Betis, and they’re having varying degrees of success on those spells so far.
24-year-old Maitland-Niles initially slotted into the starting lineup in Rome, but he’s since dropped to the bench, with only one start in their last five games in all competitions and no minutes at all in the last two.
Indeed, recent reports suggest Maitland-Niles is unlikely to join Roma permanently this summer, unless there’s a dramatic change between now and the end of the season.
Either way, it looks like the England international is going to be on the way out.
As for Bellerin, he suffered an injury setback just last week, but he’d certainly been on the right track before that.
The right-back has made 26 appearances for Real Betis, helping them reach the last-16 of the Europa League, the final of the Copa del Rey, and fifth place in La Liga’s standings – two points off a top-four spot.
Assuming Betis finish the season strongly, helping them raise the funds to afford him, you’d imagine they’ll be putting in a bid for Bellerin’s permanent future.
The two former Arsenal academy players look to be surplus to requirements in Mikel Arteta’s current squad, so summer departures wouldn’t be particularly surprising.