Ainsley Maitland-Niles ready to move on from Arsenal - Paper Round

Ainsley Maitland-Niles is not yet committed to remaining at Arsenal. The 23-year-old is now a full England international after coming on against Denmark in the week, but knows he needs regular minutes to secure a place in the squad for Euro 2020. Wolves had a £15m bid rejected recently for the versatile player but there is still a chance he could move on.

Paper Round’s view: If Wolves can get Maitland-Niles for less than £25 million they will almost certainly make a profit on him down the line or get the best part of a decade of service from a talented player. While he is versatile, giving him a set position most weeks might see him specialise in a role and fulfil his potential, which is not something Arsenal can do right now.

Aston Villa are closing in on Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, the Telegraph reports. The 28-year-old Argentine stopper has been left out of the squad to face Fulham for the opening round of the Premier League, meaning a move to Villa is imminent. Bernd Leno will get the nod for the London derby after Martinez impressed during lockdown.

Paper Round’s view: Martinez had wanted to be considered as the Arsenal number one but perhaps there was just too little evidence for Mikel Arteta to put his trust in him for the season. Leno has done a decent job since his arrival, too, so it won’t be a tough decision if the manager wants to raise funds for transfers elsewhere on the pitch for the new season.

The Mirror reports that Real Madrid are prepared to sell Sergio Reguilon to Manchester United, and they will even do so without a buy-back clause. They had wanted to insert such a clause to allow them to bring him back if they needed, but Zinedine Zidane will strike that from any deal if it helps improve relations with the club as they ponder a future move for midfielder Paul Pogba.

Paper Round’s view: With the arrival of Donny van de Beek, and the excellent form of Bruno Fernandes when he first arrived, the pressure is on Pogba to put in some consistent displays in the forthcoming season. More immediately, signing Reguilon will mean that the unreliable Luke Shaw can be banished and that Brandon Williams has someone more mature to learn from.

Barcelona are keen on Arsenal’s right-back Hector Bellerin. The club would like to loan the 25-year-old for a season but would cost 30 million euros, and Spanish newspaper Marca have said that there is a chance of a permanent move though the Catalans would prefer a loan. They are also ready to sell Nelson Semedo if they can find someone to pay the 40-50 million euro asking price.

Paper Round’s view: Barcelona are operating on a severely reduced budget given the financial impact of the coronavirus and so need to hunt for bargains. Semedo seems like one of the many players that Ronald Koeman will consider selling, so if he can shift him off the books and bring in Bellerin for a year without paying too much, that would probably help him elsewhere on the pitch.