Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles 'axed by Mikel Arteta'

Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles has reportedly been axed by head coach Mikel Arteta for failing to meet the Spaniard's high standards.

The Englishman, who has featured as right-back and midfielder for the Gunners, has not made an appearance for Arsenal since January despite Hector Bellerin's injury woes.

Arteta has instead chosen to play Sokratis Papastathopoulos as a makeshift right-back in recent matches, even though the Greece international is a centre-back by trade, and the Gunners have been lacking a natural full-back to fill that void.

However, according to The Athletic, Maitland-Niles has often turned up late to training sessions this season, something that Arteta has not been taking lightly since replacing fellow Spaniard Unai Emery back in December.

The 22-year-old has been told by Arteta that he needs to put his head down and fight for his place; as it stands Maitland-Niles is currently not in the running for a first-team start anytime soon.

The former England Under-21 international has scored three goals in 91 appearances for the Gunners.