Ainsley Maitland-Niles: Inside track on West Brom's new loanee
West Brom fans got their first glimpse of Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur - get a more in-depth description of the Baggies' loanee here.
We spoke with Peter Wood from the Le-Grove Arsenal blog to get a fresh perspective on the midfielder.
See what he had to say here...
So, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has headed to The Hawthorns on-loan, are you surprised he left the Gunners for Albion?
No. He's been very in and out with Arteta.
His problem, like with so many young players, is he's useful in lots of positions so he's never fully owned one role. He wants to be a midfielder, he's not landing minutes this season, so he moved.
What kind of player are the Baggies getting for the rest of this season?
You are landing a gem of a player. He has a very high ceiling if he can show focus.
Ainsley is one of the fittest players at Arsenal and he combines that with immense power. This is a guy who pocketed Traore and Mahrez last season in man-marking master classes.
His range of passing is also very good, he takes risks, and he'll pop up in the box when he can. He's also an outrageous penalty taker.
Where he lacks is concentration, his game can be a little too high risk sometimes and that casual nature can be problematic. I think he's unfairly judged here and I hope he proves this at West Brom.
There's obviously a big discussion over Maitland-Niles' best position, where is he best utilised in your opinion?
For Arsenal, he's been best as an inverted full-back, but he dreams of being centre midfield, possibly part of a double pivot.
If he focused on the right-back role at Arsenal, I think he'd be ahead of Hector Bellerin.
What would you say are Ainsley Maitland-Niles' strengths and weaknesses?
His weaknesses are all in the mind. He switches off and makes silly decisions when he's not under pressure. He'll need to iron that out of his game fast.
His strengths are his ability to follow a tight game plan, he's electric from a mobility perspective, and he is very fast-moving the ball forward.
What's his injury record like, is AMN a player you can rely on to be fit week in, week out?
He's very fit. Everything you need from a Premier League midfielder.
Who would you compare him to in the Premier League and why?
As this is a midlands piece, I would say that in an ideal world, he'd develop like a Douglas Luiz of Aston Villa. An all-action midfielder with a bit of flair that makes him special.
Finally, with this appearing to be a standard loan, do you think this deal suits everyone involved? And why?
If he plays to his potential, it's an expert piece of business from Sam Allardyce.
The player has one goal in mind, proving he can be a Premier League midfielder by digging West Brom out of the mess they find themselves in. If he can do it, he'll make a big case to Mikel Arteta and Edu for next season.
