Arsenal have signed centre-back William Saliba from St Etienne but the youngster will immediately be loaned back to his former club for the 2019-20 season.
The club made the announcement official earlier this week by releasing a statement which read: “Highly-rated French defender William Saliba is joining us from Ligue 1 club Saint-Etienne on a long-term contract.
“The much sought after centre half will spend a season back on loan at Saint-Etienne before joining our squad next summer.”
But after this signing was announced a number of fans have raised questions regarding Unai Emery’s need to send William Saliba back on loan.
The Gunners are badly in need of defensive reinforcements for the upcoming campaign so for the manager to send the defender back might not look like a sensible move.
But now Ian Wright has explained why William Saliba is a good buy for Arsenal.
“I have to say, with Saliba he’s a player that I’m excited about. I didn’t think we’d get him,” Wright told his YouTube channel.
“With the club’s chasing him and the money they were throwing at him, for us to make that deal happen, that is a player who has been sought after and we’ve got him.
“Anybody at the club who has played a part in that deal has got to take a maximum amount of credit.
“I know he’s going back and I know we definitely need a centre-half, but if we are going to be totally honest with where Arsenal are at the moment, if we can get a centre-half for the future and we have to loan him back and then have to try and fill spaces and get people in we have to do that.
“We cannot compete with Man City and Liverpool in respect of buying the finished article yet. We have to understand that’s where we are and I think that someone like Saliba is the future and we’ve got him.”
