Jose Mourinho has admitted he will "miss" Ainsley Maitland-Niles when the midfielder returns to Arsenal at the end of his six-month loan spell this summer.
The 24-year-old spent the second half of the campaign at Mourinho's Roma and became an important member of the side which lifted the Europa Conference League on May 25. The Italian giants beat Feyenoord 1-0 in the final in Albania thanks to Nicolo Zaniolo's first-half strike.
Although Maitland-Niles did not feature on the night, he started both games in the last-16 tie against Vitesse and came on in the quarter-final second-leg win over Bodø/Glimt. He made a total of 10 appearances for Roma and thanked the fans for their support during his time at the club.
He said on Instagram : "Great way to end the season thank you to the Roma fans, players and staff for embracing me and believing in me as one of their own for the short period of time spend at the club what an experience and to be a part of history with the club."
In response to Maitland-Niles' 'goodbye' message, Mourinho said: "We will miss you/one of us". The Arsenal loanee was one of two winter arrivals at Roma, with Porto's Sergio Oliveira the other. This was after Tammy Abraham, Rui Patricio and Ibanez all joined from Chelsea, Wolves and Atalanta respectively.
They were five signings which made a massive difference to Mourinho's squad as Roma pushed for success both domestically and in Europe. Maitland-Niles only played a handful of matches but when he did feature, he impressed, which prompted Mourinho to send a heartfelt message to him on social media.
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Having joined Roma in January, Maitland-Niles made his debut just a few days later in a 4-3 defeat against Juventus - starting at right-back. He kept his place for the visit of Cagliari, where Roma won 1-0.
Maitland-Niles then shifted to the left-wing and continued to impress, starting three of the next four matches as Roma climbed up into the top four. But he was dropped to the bench in late February and made just two more league appearances until the end of the season.
The England international, who has one year left on his contract, will now return to Arsenal for pre-season but it is clear his future does not lie in north London, with Mikel Arteta keen to trim down his squad and create funds to sign players. He could be one of a number of players allowed to leave permanently, with Lucas Torreira and Bernd Leno amongst those to be let go in the summer transfer window.
