Stephan Lichtsteiner is unsure whether he will still be at Arsenal next season despite holding talks over a new contract. The 35-year-old joined Arsenal from Juventus on a free transfer last summer, signing a one-year deal at the Emirates, and has gone on to make 21 appearances in all competitions this season.
Talks have begun over a contract extension, but Lichtsteiner admits he may seek regular first-team football elsewhere to give him the best possible chance of remaining in the Switzerland squad ahead of a potential appearance at Euro 2020.
“This will need time. The fact that I play at a top club at the age of 35 says enough. There have been talks [with Arsenal]. We have to see if it suits both sides,” he told Neue Zurcher Zeitung.
“Arsenal is a big club, I feel very happy. But I want to play regularly with regard to the European Championships. “It was okay this year. But if the coach says that he no longer counts on me, I have to worry.”
However, Former Arsenal defender, Rhys Weston has advised midfielder, Ainsley Maitland-Niles who is another major threat to Lichtsteiner’s position at the club to emulate Chelsea loanee, Victor Moses by making the Gunners right wing-back position his own. Maitland-Niles is mainly a central midfielder but has been deployed as a right wing-back and fullback by Arsenal manager, Unai Emery for the most part of this season so far.
But Weston believes the England U20 World Cup-winning star can be a key player for Arsenal, just as Moses was for Chelsea when they won the Premier League title in the 2016-2017 season after former Super Eagles star was asked to fill in as a right wing-back by former Blues manager, Antonio Conte:
”The frustrating thing is, as a young lad trying to make your way, you don’t always get given the opportunity but he’s got an opportunity now with the unfortunate circumstances with Hector Bellerin being out long-term,” Weston said on Ian Stone’s Comedy Breakfast.
”I think wing-back suits him. If you asked him he’d rather play in the holding midfield position but he and Kolasinac are far better when they have got space in front of them. ”It’s a bit like when Victor Moses was converted to a wing-back under Conte at Chelsea, his whole game changed and the whole dynamic changed.”
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