Wolves set to swoop for Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Wolves are working on a deal to bring Arsenal utility man Ainsley Maitland-Niles to Molineux.
Talks over a long-term contract for the 22-year-old are understood to be at an advanced stage, with his versatility a hugely attractive trait as owners Fosun look to bolster Nuno Espirito Santo's squad.
Maitland-Niles – rated at around £20million – can play in midfield or either of the wing-back positions.
He helped the Gunners lift the FA Cup earlier this month with a sound display at left-wing-back, beating Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley, and made 32 appearances for them in 2019/20.
Nuno is known to prefer players who can operate in a number of different positions, and Maitland-Niles is seen as having the right tools to succeed, especially after the anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained by fans' favourite Jonny Castro Otto recently.
His arrival would also provide more midfield competition for Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and Leander Dendoncker – while youngster Morgan Gibbs-White is set to join Swansea on a season-long loan soon.
Having progressed through Arsenal's youth ranks, he has since gone on to play 100 times for the North London club.
Maitland-Niles is yet to gain a senior cap for England but has represented them all through the age groups, while also having a loan spell at Ipswich – under former Wolves chief Mick McCarthy – in the 2015/16 season.
He has three years left on his Gunners deal but is set to swap the Emirates for Molineux, even though Mikel Arteta has previously expressed his desire to keep him.
Arteta said on Maitland-Niles in July: "No, I didn’t discuss the reports with him, first of all, because I don’t read them.
“I spoke with the players about how they are feeling and how can we help them.
“He’s a player that can play in many different positions, we have discussed the things that in my opinion that he can improve or adopt to his game.
“He has incredible quality, he has every quality that you need as a footballer to play at the highest level. He needs to do it a little bit more consistently but he’s one that can adapt to any position.”
And on whether he wanted to keep Maitland-Niles around, Arteta added: "Yes, maybe he didn’t play as much as I wanted him to play.
"But I played him in many different positions, in some very important games as well.”
Maitland-Niles could even be snapped up by Wolves ahead of the start of pre-season at Compton.
Nuno and the players who are not on international duty – eight already called up for the early September fixtures – are due in next Tuesday, to start preparing for the new Premier League term.
Wolves are set to begin the campaign at Sheffield United on Monday, September 14.
Meanwhile, reports suggesting Wolves are close to signing Portuguese duo Joao Palhinha and Paulinho are understood to be wide of the mark.
Sporting Lisbon midfielder Palhinha and Braga centre forward Paulinho have each been tipped for moves to Molineux by several Portuguese outlets, with links going back a number of months.
However, Wolves are not thought to have made an approach for either player at this stage.
Palhinha and Paulinho both played against Nuno’s side for Braga – Palhinha having been on loan there from Sporting for the past two years – in the Europa League group stages last term.
Palhinha has been left out of Sporting’s pre-season trip to the Algarve and speculation over his future has been rampant. But Wolves are not currently in negotiations over the pair.
