Ainsley Maitland-Niles has actually assessed his choice to leave Arsenal after investing 16 years at the club. 

Maitland-Niles is an item of the Arsenal youth system and went on to make 132 looks for the club throughout all competitors in between 2014 and 2023, winning FA Cup and Community Shield titles.

However, Maitland-Niles was never ever really able to develop himself as a routine starter at the Emirates Stadium and following loans with West Brom, Roma and Southampton, signed up with Lyon upon the expiration of his Arsenal agreement last summertime.

The 26-year-old played 29 times throughout all competitors last season to assist Lyon climb from a transfer fight into 6th location in Ligue 1 while likewise reaching the Coupe de France last — losing 2-1 to PSG.

Maitland-Niles was back in London on Sunday as Lyon handled Arsenal in the Emirates Cup, with the Gunners winning 2-0 thanks to objectives from centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães.

Speaking before that match, Maitland-Niles remembered how leaving Arsenal when he did was the appropriate choice for his profession.

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We spoke with Hale End graduate Ainsley Maitland-Niles ahead of his Emirates Stadium return ?

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 11, 2024

“I’m very mature in my mind and I understand how football works,” Maitland-Niles informed Arsenal’s main site.

“Sometimes it’s time to let go of a club that has been so dear to you and you had so many years with. So it was more of a process of trying to move on, both for my family and myself.

“Obviously my contract expired anyway, so I had to find something that was concrete and solid and I felt like Lyon was the best fit.”