Arsenal release 13, including player with more than 130 first-team appearances

Robin Bairner

• 16 Jun 2023 12:14 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal have announced that they will release at least 13 players at the end of their contracts this season, with talks over a new deal for Reiss Nelson ongoing.

The Gunners have confirmed via their official website the identity of the players who will be released by the club on 30 June, when their deals are up.

The standout name among those to depart is academy product Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who made his professional debut as a 17-year-old in 2014, having joined the club 11 years earlier.

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The versatile midfielder, who is now 25 years old, has spent much of his time on the fringes of the first-team but did threaten to make an impression from 2017/18 until 2019/20, when he featured on at least 15 occasions in the Premier League in each season.

Maitland-Niles turned out a total of 132 times for the club in all competitions, scoring three goals, including one in the Premier League.

He has spent a good deal of time away on loan in recent years, turning out in the second half of the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns with West Brom and Roma respectively. Meanwhile, he was at Southampton last term, where he made 22 Premier League outings.

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Like Maitland-Niles, Nelson came through the Arsenal academy and is another to have experienced recent time away from the club, with the 2021/22 season spent at Feyenoord on loan.

He played an interesting cameo for Mikel Arteta’s side as they finished runners-up in the Premier League last term, netting three goals in 11 matches for the Gunners, despite being hit by injury issues. He notably scored a 97th-minute winner against Bournemouth in a 3-2 win in March.

Nelson’s future at Arsenal remains uncertain, with the potential arrival of Kai Havertz liable to see him moved down the pecking order.

Who have Arsenal released?

Arsenal have confirmed they have released the following players from their first team, U18 and U23 squads.

• Zach Awe
• Joel Ideho
• George Lewis
• Ainsley Maitland-Niles
• Matt Smith
• Tom Smith

Furthermore, the following scholars ere released by the club:

• Kaleel Green
• Alexandar Kovacevic
• Tino Quamina
• Mathaeus Roberts

Arsenal women have released:

• Mana Iwabuchi
• Rafaelle Souza
• Fran Stenson