According to Get French Football News, William Saliba is not interested to stay at Arsenal and has made it clear that he wants to head back to Marseille.
The defender has been outstanding for Marseille this past season, playing in 36 league matches for the French club and because Marseille have qualified for the Champions League, Saliba wants to head back.
GFFN are claiming: “William Saliba absolutely wants to remain at Marseille & both clubs know his desire – he has no intention of being a spare part at Arsenal, according to @MohamedTERParis – will be up to Marseille to make a compelling proposal.”
William Saliba absolutely wants to remain at Marseille & both clubs know his desire – he has no intention of being a spare part at Arsenal, according to @MohamedTERParis – will be up to Marseille to make a compelling proposal.
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) May 28, 2022
Will Arsenal allow William Saliba to return to France?
Arsenal bought the youngster back in 2019 but he’s yet to make a single competitive appearance for the Gunners. All he has done is move around France in various loan spells.
Before Marseille, he spent time with St Etienne and Nice but both of those stints were pretty average however, at Marseille, his fortunes have taken an astute turn.
He has been voted as the Young Player of the Year in the Ligue 1 and has been one of the top defenders in the league which is why Arsenal want to hold onto him.
The Gunners have made it clear that William Saliba is very much in their plans for the upcoming season so they do not wish to send him out on loan again. However, William Saliba will demand regular starts at Arsenal and this is something Arteta cannot guarantee at the moment.
Arteta on William Saliba:
“He has to come back. He has the experience and the environment to be competitive with us.” 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/SBqYJgeSBi
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) May 24, 2022
The 21-year-old is very inclined to return to France in the coming months but we don’t think the Gunners will agree to this agreement. Arteta had sent him out so that he can get experience under his belt and now that he’s accomplished that, the manager will want to incorporate him into the first-team squad.
Don’t Marseille have a transfer ban?
Marseille were recently hit with a one-year transfer ban by FIFA for their involvement in a long-running transfer dispute over Senegal international Pape Gueye with Watford but the French club have since appealed to The Court of Arbitration for Sport.
This appeal means the ban will not be enforced with immediate effect so Marseille will be able to sign new players during this summer’s window.
