Italian football club AS Roma are said to be closing in on a loan move for Arsenal utility player Ainsley Maitland-Niles with an option to buy him at the end of the loan deal.
AS Roma officials and their Arsenal counterparts have been in discussion over the past few days since England international Maitland-Niles showed interest in moving to Italian football. The player is said to be keen to join Jose Mourinho in Italian football.
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that a deal would have been wrapped up for the Englishman if not for the €5m difference in valuation between the two clubs. It has already been agreed that Roma will pay a loan fee of €750,000 for Ainsley Maitland-Niles to join them on loan from Arsenal until the end of the season. North London giants Arsenal want €15m to make the deal permanent at the end of this season, while Italian football capital club Roma are prepared to pay €10m for him at the end of his loan deal at the club.
Ainsley Maitland-Nilesmissed the Norwich City game on Boxing Day after he tested positive for Covid-19 alongside some other teammates. Other Arsenal players such as Takehiro Tomiyasu andCedric Soares also missed the game against the Canaries due toCovid-19. Without the three players with Covid-19, Arsenal made it five wins in a row with an emphatic 5-0 victory over the Canaries. Bukayo Saka and Kieran Tierney scored in the first half to secure a 2-0 at the interval before Saka added his second goal in the second half before an Alexandre Lacazette penalty and a close range strike from substitute Emile Smith-Rowe in the closing stages wrapped up a big win.
Maitland-Niles has recovered fromthe virus and he’s presently waiting for greenlight from Arsenal for him to join Roma.