Arsenal have banned the mother of one of their up-and-coming teenage stars from the club after she allegedly attacked Arsene Wenger's chief deal maker.
Police were called to the Gunners' training ground at Colney last month and arrested the mother of 17-year-old midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles, reports the Daily Telegraph. It says she was held on suspicion of assaulting two people, but no further action was taken.
According to the paper she also hit negotiator Dick Law, who worked on the deals to bring Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to the club, and in another incident threatened to drag her son off the pitch during a under-21 game.
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"A member of the Arsenal ground staff and another man accused Jule Niles of assault, but Law was also apparently struck following a meeting about the player," says the Telegraph.
Although police have taken no further action, Niles was banned from the Gunners' base in Colney.
However, she turned up at Arsenal's game against Aston Villa last week and reportedly became aggressive and threatened to take her son off the pitch. Stewards and police were forced to intervene, and Niles received a warning.
Maitland-Niles made his Arsenal debut in the Champions League game against Galatasray in December, becoming the club's second youngest player in that competition in the process. He made his Premier League debut for the Gunners later that month and has also turned out for the first time in the FA Cup.
"The incidents involving his mother have not changed Arsenal's positive attitude towards him," says the paper. "Maitland-Niles is described as being a highly rated footballer and a polite and hard-working individual. He is well liked by club staff and both the youth and senior players."
