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Football London
Football London
Sport
Chris Wheatley

How Arsenal's January departures are faring as Mikel Arteta and Edu make summer decisions

Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Roma, loan)

The versatile midfielder has wanted to leave Arsenal for the past couple of seasons after growing frustrated with his inconsistent game time at the club.

The 24-year-old was persuaded to stay by manager Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu last summer when Everton made a late attempt to sign the versatile midfielder. Arsenal initially demanded an obligation clause to be included in the deal with Roma which would be linked to the amount of appearances Maitland-Niles makes.

However, Roma's current financial situation means that they were only able to offer an initial loan fee, with talks expected to resume over a permanent move towards the end of Maitland-Niles' spell in Italy.

Maitland-Niles started the first five games he was available for, before being consigned to the bench which, unfortunately for him, has coincided with Roma’s upturn in league form.

READ MORE: Edu begins Arsenal clearout with 12 players expected to leave in the summer transfer window

Pablo Mari (Udinese, loan)

Mari was another player out of favour at Arsenal this season after the emergence of Ben White and Gabriel as the club’s main centre back pairing.

The defender is an experienced head who has only played five games for the Italian side so far, but he’s expected to make it permanent in the summer.

Mari was sent off for Udinese as they lost 2-1 to Napoli on Saturday. However, he has generally impressed at the heart of the Italian's defence this season, making seven appearances from eight games. He produced an impressive performance against AC Milan as Udinese held them to a 1-1 draw and it’s likely that they will attempt to sign him when the summer comes around.

Folarin Balogun (Middlesbrough, loan)

After a tough start, Balogun has begun to settle into life in the Championship and recently scored against Birmingham in a crucial league match.

The youngster has started three of Boro’s last four league games and will be assessed in pre-season as Arteta runs the rule over whether he’ll be integrated into the first team or sent on another loan spell. Balogun told BBC Tees: "It's my first loan spell. It's very different from how I grew up in the Arsenal academy. I'm enjoying every minute of it. There's so much I wasn't aware of but being in that men's football environment, now I have that opportunity and I'm trying to adsorb as much as I can.

"My first start was Man United, you can't ask for more in terms of a stage to play on. Then Tottenham and now Chelsea, it's great I'm able to still play against these teams, it's really good."

Harry Clarke (Hibernian, loan)

Clarke has yet to kick a ball for Hibernian due to injury.

Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Lincoln City, loan)

Norton-Cuffy is expected to be offered a new contract and football.london understands that Arteta is impressed with the right back’s rapid progress in League One.

Arsenal currently have two senior right backs in Takehiro Tomiyasu and Cedric Soares, with the latter's long-term future unclear after being offered to European clubs by his agent during the January transfer window.

Norton-Cuffy has impressed for Arsenal's youth set-up and is also an England Under-18 international. Known for his driving runs and ability to win 1v1 duels, he's drawn praise from Lincoln manager Michael Appleton, who believes he has the potential to eventually play in the Premier League.

“We’ve got a right back that we’ve brought in from Arsenal who’s not bad also," said Appleton.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of people who are going to be interested in Brooke between now and the end of the season.

“He’s a player that personally – and I don’t like singling out too many people, but I’ll be amazed if he doesn’t play in the Premier League."

Karl Hein (Reading, loan)

Hein has been ruled out for the season after suffering a freak injury whilst at home.

He made five appearances for his loan side and is unlikely to break through at Arsenal after the January signing of US national team goalkeeper Matt Turner.

Tyreece John-Jules (Sheffield Wednesday, loan)

John-Jules has not been involved since suffering a quad injury on his Owls debut against Ipswich Town.

He’s highly-rated at London Colney but has struggled with injuries over the past couple of years.

Ryan Alebiosu (Crewe Alexandra, loan)

Ryan Alebiosu has undergone an operation and is ruled out for the season.

Nikolaj Moller (Den Bosch, loan)

Moller has made 7 league appearances for Den Bosch, scoring once and assisting another in the process.

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