Fleet-footed winger Ainsley enjoyed a superb final season as a schoolboy as he earned a scholarship deal at Arsenal, established himself as a regular for the U18s and earned a surprise call-up for the latter stages of the NextGen Series in Lake Como.
Having impressed for the U18s in a pre-season friendly against Chelsea, Ainsley was given his first league outing away to West Bromwich Albion, against whom he scored in a 6-2 defeat, before proceeding to start seven consecutive league games for the U18s between February and March, which yielded another goal against Middlesbrough.
That impressive sequence of form saw him called up to the NextGen Series squad for the Quarter-Final with CSKA Moscow at Emirates Stadium, and, although he didn’t feature on that occasion, the youngster was involved in the Semi-Final against Chelsea and the 3rd place play-off against Sporting Lisbon, prompting suggestions that, as well as playing for the U18s, he could also feature for the older age groups during his first season as a scholar.
I’ve heard that Maitland-Niles is very promising and highly rated among the academy coaches. Could you tell me more about him as a player?
Oh, and btw, his name is f***ing awesome!
I Know i LOVE that name to I named him
)
Jeorge are there any other players to look out for in the under 16′s apart from Zelalem who has played u21′s & Maitland-Niles who played nextgen??