Arsenal signed William Saliba from French side Saint Etienne last summer as the Gunners paid £27 million for the services of the young central defender.
But to everyone’s surprise, the Premier League side chose to immediately loan him back to his former club claiming that he needs more experience under his belt.
The one-year loan deal is up in next month meaning William Saliba is about to join his parent club during the summer but Martin Keown has come out to slam this decision to loan the 19-year-old out instead of putting him to use.
“There’s an awful lot of work to be done in there [defence],” he said, as quoted in the Mirror. “There was the defender from Saint-Etienne William Saliba who they paid £27 million for but was loaned back again.
“I couldn’t quite work that out because now I’m being told he’s world-class.
“Never mind if he’s world-class if he was Premier League class it would have been good enough because that was an area of concern.”
Will William Saliba be a failure at the Emirates?
“He is a fantastic player,” current St Etienne manager Claude Puel told The Athletic, as reported.
“He is a young player but with a lot of maturity in his play. Also, in his life. He is a player with a good feeling and spirit.
“I think they need a good centre-back and have done for some time, and I think William is the right player. I think he can play all the time in the first team at Arsenal.”
So it’s pretty clear the youngster has talent but some people feel the defender could turn out to be the next Nicolas Pepe.
Pepe was the centre of attraction in Ligue 1 last season but at Arsenal, he has failed to revive that form and right now there are even rumours that the Gunners might be looking to sell him off in the summer.
And while Arsenal have high hopes from William Saliba as well, we have a feeling that throwing him straight into the mix might not be the best idea, especially when the pre-season preparations are about to be cut short.
Plus to make matters worse, the youngster has played in only 12 Ligue 1 matches this season courtesy of a Metatarsal fracture which kept him on the sidelines for more than two months.
