Lyon have confirmed the signing of Arsenal defender Ainsley Maitland-Niles to a four-year deal, thanks to a bizarre announcement video.
Maitland-Niles had been outnumbered at Arsenal for several seasons, having spent 2021-22 on loan at Roma, and 2022-23 at Southampton. He left the Gunners on a free in July, and Lyon signed the player on a permanent deal and announced his signing with a bizarre video playing on England’s love of tea and scones.*
Maitland-Niles is served an English “afternoon tea” by a waiter, before sending it away and asking for the Lyon version.
‘ ̶̶̶ 🦁🔴🔵
Welcome @MaitlandNiles 🏴 pic.twitter.com/fzYJjeQdE9
— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) August 7, 2023
At a time when announcement videos are more original and relevant than each other, this one will certainly go down as one of the weirdest sequences ever produced by a club.
Maitland-Niles has signed a four-year contract at Lyon and will hope to have more success in Ligue 1 than in Serie A, where he has made just eight league appearances.