Arsenal and Spurs have been heavily linked with 18-year-old centre-back William Saliba and both the London clubs are desperate to bring him onboard this summer.
William Saliba currently plays for Ligue 1 side St Etienne and last season the centre-back managed to play in only 16 league games for the French side.
But despite making limited appearances, the youngster has caught the attention of a number of top European clubs with most suggesting that he could be on his way to the Premier League.
Last week reports had suggested that Arsenal were ready to pay €30 million for the services of the defender and immediately rumours erupted that the Gunners have managed to secure a deal for William Saliba.
Now we know that Arsenal have not made any significant progress in the transfer but along with Spurs, they do hold some serious interest.
And naturally all this buzz, everyone has been wondering why both the Premier League outfits are so keen to sign the centre-back despite the fact that he is not yet a regular in the St Etienne line up.
Now speaking about the whole situation French journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi has provided an explanation as to why William Saliba is so sought after in the transfer market.
“He is the only player in the French set-up who is in the age class two times higher than a player would typically be. He’s the first player to be in this situation since Kylian Mbappé,” said Head of Football at RMC Sport, Mohamed Bouhafsi to GFFN.
“Today, if you look at the transfers of De Ligt and other great defenders, €25m, €30m for Saliba is nothing, nothing at all.
“So, that is why Arsenal have very well understood that they should leave him at St Étienne for another year, or at least close the deal now, because if a player like Saliba is as good again in Ligue 1 this coming season, he will easily be worth €55m, €60m next summer.
“What I want to say though, is that it is not necessarily a bad calculation to sign a player who is going to be fantastic for many years and loan him back for one season.
“And who is going to grow during that time in terms of his qualities, rather than immediately putting him in a fierce competition for places, immediately putting him under pressure.
“Sometimes it is better to lose 1 year to gain 5 or 6 years, rather than to gain 1 year and lose everything.”
It is still unclear whether the player will agree to join Arsenal since they are not playing in the Champions League next season.
And while Spurs might seen like they have the obvious European advantage but if William Saliba does join the Emirates outfit, he is more or less guaranteed a starting role since Shkodran Mustafi is likely to leave the club this summer.
