Ainsley Maitland-Niles will join AS Roma on a dry loan from Arsenal and Jose Mourinho is also targeting FC Porto midfielder Sergio Oliveira

Ainsley Maitland-Niles will join AS Roma on loan from Arsenal after the clubs agreed on a dry loan deal for the 24-year-old. The Hale End academy graduate has failed to nail down a starting spot under Mikel Arteta and he is set to head out for his third loan. Jose Mourinho is aggressively looking for reinforcement with his AS Roma squad down to its bare bones and the England international is the first one to be secured. AMN can also cover the full-back positions and the wings. His versatility has been one of the banes of his career with Arsene Wenger and Arteta using him in different positions rather than allowing him to develop in one. He has been looking for a way out for consistent game time and he might find it in Rome.

The two-time Champions League winner is already complaining about the strength of his squad especially after his side’s humiliating 6-1 Europa Conference League loss to Bodo/Glimt.

Mourinho had named a much-changed line-up for the game in Norway and after the loss, he said “maybe now people will stop asking me why I always pick the same team [in Serie A].”

The next target for Mou is FC Porto midfield general Sergio Oliveira who has fallen down the pecking order under Sergio Conceicao. The Giallorossi want the 29-year-old central midfielder on a loan with the option to buy. Sergio Oliveira has been at Porto since 2015, making his name as a late bloomer. Despite winning the “Dragão de Ouro” award for Porto’s footballer of the year last campaign, the exciting Vitinha has taken his position in the first team. Roma are working on a deal to bring him to Italy where he can re-establish himself as an important player.