Everton secured the signature of Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Lyon during the summer transfer window.
More Videos
There have been plenty of claims that Ainsley Maitland-Niles isn’t even a right-back, so we’re going to look into these claims.
Maitland-Niles made the move to Everton on deadline day of the summer transfer window, with it seemingly being their solution to the right-back situation.
I was fairly content with the signing of Maitland-Niles when it was announced, as I felt he would be arriving as a backup option. The 29-year-old is also incredibly versatile, so it was a player who can cover multiple positions on the cheap.
Unfortunately, he was the only right-back to arrive through the door on deadline day.
It was a failure of a summer transfer window, there’s no denying that, and the right-back situation was one of many issues that haven’t been fully resolved.
Then came the claims that Maitland-Niles isn’t a right-back, seemingly stemming from an interview of his where he said he prefers to play in midfield.
Maitland-Niles: a midfielder?
It’s true, Maitland-Niles did previously claim he prefers to play in midfield, and he’s reiterated it on multiple occasions. These comments, however, came many, many years ago.
Maitland-Niles later cleared up those comments in July 2020, claiming his comments were misjudged after people seemingly took it as that he didn’t want to play right-back.
“I would play right-back every week if I had to. I am not really fussed. The main thing is being out there with the team & helping them win games. That’s where some people may have misjudged what I said before. They misinterpreted what I said.”
Shortly after, Maitland-Niles made the move to West Brom, and he was at it again with the midfield comments.
“I’m a midfielder, of course. I can do the job at left-back and right-back but my preferred position is in the middle of the pitch.”
Despite that, he’s played more games at right-back than any other position in his career, and he’s now 29 years of age. Gareth Southgate played him as a right-back when he had a short spell with England, Ralph Hasenhuttl regularly played him at full-back too.
Over the last two seasons for Lyon, as per Transfermarkt, Maitland-Niles has played 39 league games at right-back, 16 times in the Europa League, and three times in the Champions League this season already.
The former Arsenal man also played 97 times as a right-midfielder, but very rarely as an out-and-out winger or a central midfielder.
In his career, he’s played 54 games as a midfielder, but many of those came in the youth teams. Southampton played him there just nine times, West Brom 13 times, and Lyon have done so just four times.
So in reality, whatever has happened in the past, Maitland-Niles is simply a right-back these days. He’s been trying to play in midfield for many years, but he finally looked settled in a side playing predominantly at right-back.
What can Maitland-Niles offer at right-back?
In reality, I struggle to see a world where David Moyes wants Maitland-Niles as his regular right-back. Defensively, there are issues there.
The 29-year-old can be known to switch off positionally, and he’s not a strong duel winner, winning just 30% of his ground duels last season.
What Maitland-Niles does offer is someone who is always looking to play progressively, getting forward at every opportunity down the right-hand side.
The 29-year-old is a persistent crosser of the ball, but he will look to constantly try to find the winger in front of him, fire a pass into a striker or attacking midfielder, or attempt to find a teammate in the box via a pass.
I think Maitland-Niles can be beneficial to us at right-back. He’s the most experienced right-back in the squad and is certainly a more natural option than Jake O’Brien or Merlin Rohl. When on the pitch, expect the right-sided attacker to get a lot more of the ball, and also have more space with Maitland-Niles looking to get forward to create space for them.