Maitland-Niles, Martinez have plenty to offer Arsenal, says Arteta
Mikel Arteta believes Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Emi Martinez still have plenty to offer Arsenal, amid speculation they could leave the club.
The pair have both been linked with moves away this summer and there is growing speculation they could leave Emirates Stadium.
Wolves are fighting hard to bring in Maitland-Niles, while Martinez has been linked with clubs in the Premier League and Spain.
The goalkeeper wants to be Arsenal’s No1, but faces a fight to be just that given Bernd Leno is now fit again.
Despite talk over their futures, Maitland-Niles and Martinez excelled as Arsenal beat Liverpool on penalties to win the Community Shield at Wembley.
And after Arteta confessed he believes the duo could have futures at Arsenal given their level of performances.
“Well we are in the market obviously and there is a lot of speculation,” said the Spaniard.
“I think Emi has shown in the last few months what he is able to do for this football club. I am convinced that he has the level to play for us consistently at that level.
“He showed that today in a final. But I cannot stop the speculation. That is something I cannot stop and what other people can write about us. I am not going discuss publicly what is happening with other players.”
Maitland-Niles previously looked out of favour under Arteta before football returned from lockdown in June.
Since then the 23-year-old has been reborn and his comeback has been hailed by Arteta after another fine display.
“He has to be able to convince me every day in training that he can compete at this level. Not once every three months – but every three days,” said Arteta.
“The way he is playing at the moment is showing me that he can do it. His mentality and the way he is going about every single detail about the preparation of a football game is much better than before.
“I am delighted and very happy for him because he is really changing a lot of things around him to become the player he can be.
“The best way to show a player how his manager thinks about him, I think is to give him the chance to play or not. And today in a final again he started.
“He played the 90 minutes [today], like he did against [Manchester] City in the [FA Cup] semi-final and Chelsea as well in the final.”
