Arsenal are set to beat Spurs to the signing of 18-year-old centre-back William Saliba – as per reports.
William Saliba currently plays for Ligue 1 side St Etienne and during the 2018-19 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 French journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi comparing him to Kylian Mbappe.
“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.
And now BBC’s David Ornstein has revealed that the defender is one his way to accepting a deal for William Saliba.
The transfer is expected to cost around £27 Million which is surely a huge sum of money for the Gunners this transfer window but it looks like St Etienne have chosen to go easy on them.
According to Ornstein, the transfer fee for William Saliba will have to be paid in instalments which is a great plus point for Unai Emery.
David Ornstein wrote for the BBC: “Arsenal are set to beat Tottenham to the signing of teenage defender William Saliba from Saint-Etienne.
“The 18-year-old France youth international will return to the Ligue 1 club next season on loan before heading to the Gunners in 2020.
“Arsenal are understood to be paying 30m euros (£27m) for Saliba with the fee paid in instalments.”
The bad news though is that William Saliba will not be playing at the Emirates next season as the Gunners will have to loan him back to St Etienne with immediate effect.
So the acquisition of William Saliba might be a good move from Unai Emery and his think thank but the club will not be reaping its benefits anytime soon.
