Arsenal are about to receive the services of defender William Saliba from St Etienne and according to Jamie Carragher, the youngster is the foremost reason why the Gunners are letting David Luiz leave.
Luiz is set to be a free agent in the summer and as per reports, the club will not hand him a new deal. And the Sky Sports pundit thinks Arsenal have really high hopes from the 19-year-old which is why David Luiz is not longer wanted.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Football Show, he said, as per the Express: “I do know Arsenal are really excited about the prospect coming in – Saliba from Saint Etienne, who’s on loan. He’s Arsenal’s player, he’ll be joining next season.
“He’s only 19 so you still think they’ll need they’ll need a little bit more experience in that position but I do know the club are very excited about him coming in.
“It’s no surprise to me they won’t be renewing David Luiz’s contract.”
Will William Saliba live up to the expectations?
Current St Etienne manager Claude Puel is confident that William Saliba will be a massive success at Arsenal.
“He is a fantastic player,” 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.”
Arsenal are obviously taking a huge gamble by resting so much faith on Saliba’s shoulders but if he turns out to be anything like Nicolas Pepe then Mikel Arteta will be doomed.
The absence of David Luiz would mean Arsenal will lose a lot of experience inside their dressing room and if players like William Saliba and Pablo Mari start to flounder then the Gunners boss will have no fail-safe.
This season, the centre-back has played in only 12 Ligue 1 matches for St Etienne primarily since he was sidelined for more than two months due to a Metatarsal Fracture.
