Why Ainsley Maitland-Niles Will Make the Grade at Arsenal

Currently, Ainsley Maitland-Niles is starring on loan for Ipswich in the Championship. Despite his bright start in East Anglia, there is no chance of him making the move permanent. The plan is that he will return to Arsenal at the end of the season to further his development in north London. Maitland-Niles has the makings of an Arsenal first-team player.

It’s difficult to predict the precise trajectory of any young player’s career. Plenty of talented youngsters come and go at Arsenal without ever making a major impact on the first team. The academy is proficient at producing technically skilled footballers, but that raw ability is not enough to ensure a top-flight career.

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Take the case of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, a former reserve team captain who outclassed his opponent at every stage of his youth development.

However, he never made the transition to Arsenal’s senior squad.

When opportunities did come his way, he seemingly lacked the desire and application to make the most of his outrageous talent. Emmanuel-Thomas has spent the last couple of years in the third tier of English football and is now slowly rebuilding his career with Queens Park Rangers. It’s unlikely he’ll ever fulfill his once-lauded potential.

Like Emmanuel-Thomas, Maitland-Niles has superb technical and physical gifts. However, crucially, he also seems to have the mentality to match. His manager at Ipswich, former Ireland boss Mick McCarthy, paid testament to that when speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk.

"I had the conversation with him 'I know you can play, but if you don't run around and don't put a shift in, you won't play' but he's a workaholic," McCarthy said.

Ipswich are using Maitland-Niles on both the left and right flank, where his boundless energy and quick feet make him a constant menace to the opposing full-backs.

McCarthy seems utterly enamoured with the new arrival. He can’t help but eulogise about what he has brought to the side, per BBC Radio Suffolk:

"

Wow. The talent of him; I think he's going to play for Arsenal, there's no doubt in my mind. 

We are just so lucky to have him.

Nobody knew anything about him. I watched him play against Reading for [Arsenal's] under-21s last season and I thought he was great. I enquired about him in January, but they needed him for their Champions League squad.

"

Maitland-Niles has already played in the Champions League, having replaced Aaron Ramsey as a substitute against Galatasaray in December 2014. Four days later, he made his Premier League debut in a 4-1 win over Newcastle.

Although most of his senior football has been played on the flanks, it’s anticipated that Maitland-Niles could end up as a central midfielder. He has the stamina required to cover huge amounts of ground, and his long-range shooting ability is most effective from a central berth.

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His progress has been impressive on the international stage too. He has recently notched goals for England U19 against both Macedonia and Germany, and boss Aidy Boothroyd has corroborated McCarthy’s claim that this youngster has everything required to go to the top. Speaking to Stuart Watson of the Ipswich Star, he said:

"

Ainsley is obviously a talented player, but we’ve all seen talented players that fall by the wayside.

I don’t see that being the case with him because he’s a young player who wants to listen, learn and improve.

What I like about him is that he doesn’t play for himself, he plays for his team-mates, his coaches and his managers.

I think he’s at a great place to progress his career at the moment because Ipswich is a fantastic club and he’s in good hands with Mick.

"

Hell only be in those hands temporarily. Before long, Maitland-Niles will be knocking on the door of the Arsenal squad. This is one young Gun with the potential to make it big.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.