Ainsley Cory Maitland-Niles (born 29 August 1997) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or full-back for club

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on loan from Arsenal. Maitland-Niles spent the 2015–16 season on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

and the second half of the 2020–21 and 2021-22 seasons on loan at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

and

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

respectively. Internationally, he has represented England from under-17 to senior level.

Early life

Maitland-Niles was born in

Goodmayes Goodmayes is a district of Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge, England. It is situated eleven miles north-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of both the Romford and Ilford post towns. Historically part of Essex, it was part of the Muni ...

, Greater London, being raised in Edmonton, North London and attended Oaks Park High School, Ilford. He grew up in a single parent family with his mother, Jule Niles, and his brother, Cordi. He is of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n descent.

Club career

Arsenal

Early career

Maitland-Niles is a product of Arsenal's

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

having joined the club at the age of six. Maitland-Niles made the step up to Arsenal's U21s during the 2013–14 season, having broken into the U18 set up the season before. He signed his first professional contract with Arsenal on 24 October 2014. On 9 December 2014, Maitland-Niles made his professional debut at the age of 17 years and 102 days in a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

match against

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, replacing

Aaron Ramsey Aaron James Ramsey (born 26 December 1990) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nice and the Wales national team. Ramsey mainly plays as a box-to-box midfielder, but has also been deployed on the left ...

at half time in an eventual 4–1 win for Arsenal. In doing so he became the second youngest player to have represented Arsenal in the Champions League, behind

Jack Wilshere Jack Andrew Garry Wilshere (born 1 January 1992) is an English football coach and former professional player who played as a midfielder. He is the current head coach of the Arsenal U18s. Wilshere came up through Arsenal's youth academy and i ...

. Four days later, he made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

debut, replacing

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Alexander Mark David Oxlade-Chamberlain (born 15 August 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool. After rising to prominence with Southampton during the 2010–11 season aged 17, Oxlade-Chambe ...

in added time in a 4–1 win against Newcastle United.

2015–16: Loan to Ipswich Town

On 2 July 2015, Maitland-Niles signed for

on a season-long loan for the 2015–16 season. Upon joining the club, he was given a number seven shirt ahead of a new season. Maitland-Niles made his Ipswich Town debut, starting the whole game before being substituted in the 82nd minute, in a 2–2 draw against Brentford in the opening game of the season. Since making his Ipswich Town debut, Maitland-Niles' performances immediately made an impact and was praised by manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City. McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had ...

, describing him as "outstanding". His performance then saw him being named the club's player of the month for September. He scored his first goal for Ipswich and his first ever senior goal in a 2–0 win over Bolton Wanderers on 3 November 2015. His second goal for the club came on 19 January 2016, in a 2–1 loss against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in the third round replay of the FA Cup. Later in the season, however, Maitland-Niles' first-team opportunities was soon limited, due to injuries and competitions, leading him to play for the reserve side. After making thirty-two appearances and scoring two times in all competitions, Maitland-Niles returned to his parent club.

2017–2020: First-team breakthrough, FA Cup win

On his return to Arsenal the following season, Maitland-Niles started a match away at the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when En ...

against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in the EFL Cup at

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Maitland-Niles again started at centre midfield against

in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fourth-round game in an eventual 5–0 win for Arsenal. He came on as a substitute in the 74th minute in Arsenal's 2–0 win against

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...

in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Maitland-Niles established himself as a regular first-team player in Arsène Wenger's final season as manager of the club, making 28 total appearances in all competitions. On 12 June 2018, he signed a long-term contract at Arsenal. On 12 August 2018, in

Unai Emery Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanish football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Aston Villa. After a career spent playing mostly in Spain's Segunda División, Emery transitioned into coa ...

's first match as manager, Maitland-Niles started at

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. However, he would be subbed off 35 minutes into the match after suffering a broken leg. After his return from his leg break and a season-ending injury for

Héctor Bellerín Héctor Bellerín Moruno (born 19 March 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right-back or wing-back for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP and the Spain national team. Bellerín started his career at Barcelona, and moved ...

, Maitland-Niles established himself as Emery's starting right-back for the remainder of the season. On 29 December 2018, he scored his first goal for the club in a 5–1 Premier League defeat to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

. Maitland-Niles scored his first

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

goal on 14 March 2019, scoring Arsenal's second in a 3–0 quarter-final second-leg victory against Stade Rennais at the Emirates Stadium. With Bellerín still working his way back from injury, Maitland-Niles kept his place as Arsenal's starting right-back for the opening games of the

2019–20 Premier League The 2019–20 Premier League was the 28th season of the Premier League, the top English professional football league, since its establishment in 1992, and the 121st season of top-flight English football overall. The season started on 9 August 2 ...

. On 22 September 2019, Maitland-Niles received a red card during the first half of Arsenal's 3–2 victory against Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium. His sending off came after he received yellow cards in both the 11th and 41st minutes. He scored his first EFL Cup goal against Liverpool in a 5–5 draw (Liverpool won on penalties) at Anfield. On 1 August 2020, Maitland-Niles was selected to start in the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

against Chelsea, as Arsenal won their 14th FA Cup. Maitland-Niles started the

2020 FA Community Shield The 2020 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield supported by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 98th FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League, ...

on 29 August, taking and scoring the second penalty in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

win against Liverpool after the match ended 1–1. In the FA Community Shield, Maitland-Niles was awarded the man of the match. Maitland-Niles later struggled to secure a place in Mikel Arteta's first team, with interest coming from West Brom and Southampton to sign on loan.

2021–present: Loans to West Brom, Roma and Southampton

On 1 February 2021, Maitland-Niles joined fellow

club

on a loan deal until the end of the season. He made his debut in a 0–2 defeat to

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...

in the Premier League on 7 February. During the summer of 2021, Maitland-Niles was linked with a move away from Arsenal, with Everton reportedly interested in signing him on loan. The potential move fell through however, and on 30 August 2021, Maitland-Niles publicly expressed his desire to leave the club via social media, stating that he wished to go where he was "wanted" and where he was going to play. On 8 January 2022, Maitland-Niles joined

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club

on a loan deal until the end of the season. On 1 September 2022, Maitland-Niles joined Southampton on a season long loan.

International career

Maitland-Niles has played for England at various levels within the youth setup of the Three Lions. He made three appearances for England U17 in 2014. He was then called up by England U18 in November 2014 and scored on his debut, in a 3–2 win over Poland U18. He went on to make four appearances for the England U18 side. In September 2015, Maitland-Niles was called up by England U19 and scored on his England U19 debut, in a 3–2 win over Germany U19 on 4 September 2015. He scored again the following month, in a 2–0 win over Macedonia U19. He was then included in the England U19 squad for the

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

that saw them reach the semi-final of the tournament. On 1 September 2016, Maitland-Niles scored on his England U20 debut, in a 1–1 draw against Brazil U20. In May 2017 he was called up to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's squad for the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 ...

in South Korea. England eventually got to the final of the tournament where they were up against Venezuela. Maitland-Niles, who came on in the 75th minute of play, went on to win the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup as England beat Venezuela by a 1–0 margin. This was the first time England had ever won the Under-20 World Cup. On 29 August 2020, Maitland-Niles was called up to the England senior squad by

Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016. Southgate won the League Cup ...

for the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

matches against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. He made his debut on 8 September coming on as a substitute against Denmark.

Style of play

Maitland-Niles is known for his versatility, with his pace and energy, he can play as a winger,

, full-back, and wing-back, though he prefers playing on the wing, describing it as "his natural position." In December 2017, his then-Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, praised Maitland-Niles as "a good defender", saying that "he has that sense of one against one" and "has very quick recovery runs."

Media

Maitland-Niles was involved in the Amazon Original sports

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

'' All or Nothing: Arsenal'', which documented the club by spending time with the coaching staff and players behind the scenes both on and off the field throughout their 2021–22 season.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Arsenal *

: 2019–20 * FA Community Shield:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

* EFL Cup runner-up: 2017–18 *

runner-up: 2018–19 Roma *

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on thei ...

: 2021–22 England U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

Individual *

Player of the Month: September 2015

References

External links

Profile
at the Arsenal F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maitland-Niles, Ainsley 1997 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Redbridge English footballers England youth international footballers England under-21 international footballers England international footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Arsenal F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Black British sportsmen English people of Jamaican descent FA Cup Final players English expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Serie A players A.S. Roma players UEFA Europa Conference League winning players