Arteta blocked Maitland-Niles moved to Barca
When Barca were on the brink of bringing in Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Mikel Arteta made his presence felt and blocked all negotiations.
According to 'The Sun', Barcelona made moves in the summer transfer window to sign Arsenal player Ainsley Maitland-Niles. He was chosen by the board as a right-back option before the arrival of Sergiño Dest was confirmed.
In the end though, the English defender was going nowhere thanks to Mikel Arteta! It now appears that the Spanish coach personally blocked all approaches to try and avoid losing the Englishman.
Despite this, the Catalans did make contact with the player and his staff to see how he felt about a move to the Camp Nou and the player accepted personal terms, but then Arteta arrived on the scene and put an end to any exit plans he had.
'The Sun' also claim that the Basque coach went as far as to tell the English board not to even consider any offer for Maitland-Niles, who he considers indispensable for the Gunners.