Ainsley Maitland-Niles was sent out on loan this summer for a second successive season. The 25-year-old joined Southampton on deadline day after spending the last campaign on loan at AS Roma, while he spent the second half of the 2020/21 season at West Bromwich Albion.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “He is a very good player on the ball, but he has to learn that our game starts when the ball is not with us. This is something he still has to learn and therefore we are investing our time to make him better. He is not a loud speaker but he is taking responsibility on the pitch and when he has the ball this quality is there. To make a big impact in the future in football he has to add a few parts to his game that he does not have so far and we will help him do this. In football it is enough to play three or four good games and you are immediately a superstar. This is not how football should be. You should work for a whole year and show you are performing on a high level and then we can rate this player.”
