Journalist and transfer insider Pete O'Rourke has dropped a claim regarding Arsenal midfielder, Ainsley Maitland-Niles,  who has reportedly been offered to West Ham United.

What's the talk?

Speaking to Football FanCast, O'Rourke had this to say about the player and the possibility of him joining the Hammers.

He said:

"He would tick a lot of boxes for David Moyes, Ainsley Maitland-Niles. He's so versatile, he can play right-back, left-back, in midfield as well, which I think is his preferred position.

"I think Maitland-Niles just doesn't seem like he has a future at Arsenal right now as well."

In 185 appearances for Arsenal across their senior and U21 sides, the Englishman has seven goals and 15 assists to his name.

The 24-year-old has also had three loan spells away from the north London club with sides such as Ipswich Town and West Bromwich Albion, as well as his latest one in Italy with AS Roma.

A dream deal

Having made 87 appearances in the Premier League, this experience should make it easy for him to settle into life at West Ham and hit the ground running on the pitch.

As O'Rourke mentioned, the Arsenal figure has been known to play across numerous midfield and defensive positions across the pitch, highlighting the versatility he has and how he'd be a useful figure for Moyes if he were to make a move to the London Stadium this summer.

Throughout the 15 Premier League games he played for West Brom during the 2020/21 season, only three other players in the squad at the time made more successful pressures than Maitland-Niles (104), showing just how tenacious he can be in trying to win the ball back for his team.

Bearing in mind how the Hammers currently rank bottom for the number of successful pressures (84) they've made as a team so far this season, adding a player like the £51k-per-week midfielder, who has been described as a "Rolls-Royce" by Gunners legend Martin Keown in the past, could be a dream signing for them at this stage of the summer window.

Moving forward, depending on what sort of deal Arsenal would be willing to accept for the player, West Ham should definitely not pass up the opportunity to strengthen their squad and add a potentially very useful player like Maitland-Niles to their ranks before the summer transfer window ends.