Southampton and AFC Bournemouth are the two clubs leading the race for Ainsley Maitland-Niles going into the final days of the transfer window.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles has been linked with West Ham United, Southampton, Bournemouth, and Fulham in recent weeks, but it seems the shortlist is down to two with a few days remaining until the summer deadline.

Sam Dean of The Telegraph reported last week that Southampton and Bournemouth were leading the race for Maitland-Niles, who is not part of Mikel Arteta’s plans for the season and will be allowed to leave.

West Ham are reportedly focusing on other targets, despite initial interest in the Arsenal man.

Mark Mann-Bryans today confirms that Bournemouth and Southampton remain the two most viable options for Maitland-Niles.

No move is yet close, so there’s still work to do before he can join either club.

Football.London previously broke the news that Arsenal have an option to extend Maitland-Niles’ contract by a year, prolonging his deal to 2024. As a result, a loan move isn’t off the table.

Fabrizio Romano then weighed in to report that Southampton are pushing to complete the Maitland-Niles deal on loan with an option to buy.

Romano claimed Southampton were looking to fight off competition from two other clubs to complete the transfer – presumably Bournemouth and West Ham.

Yet there hasn’t been any serious progress since then, so we’re still waiting on Bournemouth or Southampton to finalise a deal.