Just 17 years old, Ainsley Maitland-Niles is getting all kinds of hyperbole about his talent from the Championship division.
A life-long product of the Arsenal youth academy, Ainsley Maitland-Niles is now a full-time senior player and is expected to make a big jump to the Gunners starting XI soon.
In an interview with BBC Radio Suffolk reported by the Metro, Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy gushed over Maitland-Niles’ talent and stated he had “no doubt” that the 17-year-old winger would be a starter for the Arsenal starting XI in the near future.
“Wow. The talent of him; I think he’s going to play for Arsenal, there’s no doubt in my mind,’ McCarthy said. “We are just so lucky to have him.”
Ainsley Maitland-Niles was loaned out to Ipswich Town in early July and has been a starter for the Championship outfit in each of the club’s matches so far this season. Maitland-Niles earned man-of-the-match honors in a road match against Burnley earlier this season.
“Nobody knew anything about him. I watched him play against Reading for [Arsenal’s] under-21s last season and I thought he was great… I enquired about him in January, but they needed him for their Champions League squad,’ McCarthy said.
Maitland-Niles replaced Aaron Ramsey in a Champions League match against Galatasaray, and made his Premier League debut several days winner as a replacement for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
“He’s such a lovely kid and all, he’s fitted in perfectly… I had the conversation with him ‘I know you can play, but if you don’t run around and don’t put a shift in you won’t play’ but he’s a workaholic,” McCarthy added.
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