Southampton could be set to beat West Ham and Bournemouth to the signing of Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the coming weeks with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men ‘pushing to sign’ the former England international.
Maitland-Niles, who has come up through Arsenal’s youth ranks from the age of four, is slowly being edged out of the Emirates due to the amount of talent Mikel Arteta has in his ranks.
The star made just eight appearances before Christmas last season, where he was moved out to Roma on loan under Jose Mourinho.
But upon his return, it appears that Cedric Soares, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are ahead of him.
And according to reports by Fabrizio Romano, Saints are pushing to make him a new signing with his versatility potentially proving key to their survival hopes.
The publication states that talks are in progress over a loan-to-buy option with the five-time capped international having two years left on his contract.
And that could see them beat West Ham and Bournemouth to his signing if it goes through.
Saints have made a decent start to the Premier League season – with Arsenal top of the league after maintaining their 100 per cent record at the weekend.
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