“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 and helping them win games.” : Gunners

In a previous interview, Maitland-Niles appeared to intimate he did not want to play at right-back – a position former manager Unai Emery regular deployed him.

However, in this interview he is happy to set the record straight: ‘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 and helping them win games. That’s where some people may have misjudged what I said before. They misinterpreted what I said.

‘I didn’t mean I don’t want to play there because I would be happy to fill in and slot in and do the job anytime, anyplace.

‘Obviously I do prefer playing central midfield but that is not to say I don’t want to play right-back or that I’m not going to do the job there if the manager asks me to.

‘If the manager says to me “Ains you gotta go in goal this game I will put the gloves on and I am ready to rock n roll”.’

While he’s at it, Maitland-Niles addresses reports that he was axed by Arteta earlier this season for reporting late for training.

‘It doesn’t bother me what people label me as because I think the management know themselves,’ he explained.

‘Ok I was late, maybe once during this manager’s time. It was a mistake, I spoke to the manager and put my hands up and took the consequences. Since then I haven’t been late.