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Ainsley Maitland-Niles completed a loan move to West Brom on Monday’s deadline day.

The £35,000-a-week star has moved to the Hawthorns on loan for the rest of the season and will be trying to help West Brom in their fight against relegation from the Premier League.

Maitland-Niles has been a part of the England squad recently and earned three senior international caps, but isn’t getting enough minutes at club level.

The 23-year-old has played 21 games in the first half of the season, but most of his starts have come in various cup competitions.

Gunners manager Mikel Arteta has commented on how he believes a loan deal is a great step for the club’s academy graduate:

“Ainsley is a very talented player and we are proud of his hard work and development with us. This decision to go on loan to West Bromwich Albion for the rest of this season is to support Ainsley and his growth further,”  Arteta said.

“He will be working at a very good club in the Premier League and we all wish him the best of luck during his time at the Hawthorns.”

Additionally, Arsenal’s technical Director said that Maitland-Niles deserves the chance to go out on loan:

“We wish Ainsley the best of luck for his time with West Bromwich Albion. He deserves the opportunity to play consistently, which is what he needs for his club and international career ambitions and we fully support him with that,” Edu said.

TBR’s View:

Maitland-Niles’ signature looks a superb piece of business for West Brom, who are stuck in the relegation spots right now with a lot of work to do.

He’s such a versatile star that has played as a full-back, winger and midfielder at various part of his career.

His preferred position is as a central midfielder and that’s the area of the pitch he largely played as a youngster, but in an England shirt he’s looked effective as a wing-back so it’ll be interesting to see how West Brom manager Sam Allardyce uses him.