Marseille’s chances of signing William Saliba appear to be over

Arsenal’s transfer business has been up and down over recent years, but there’s something curious about the case of William Saliba.

The young French defender officially joined the club in 2019 – at that time he was seen as a signing for the future who might have the potential to break into the team quickly, but Mikel Arteta clearly didn’t fancy him.

His loan spells with Saint Etienne, Nice and Marseille have been mostly productive and he looks like a player who could develop into a top-level defender, but it’s still not completely clear if that will be with Arsenal.

The latest report from Get French Football News cites Fabrizio Romano in suggesting that Arsenal aren’t looking to loan him out again next season, but the door hasn’t been closed on a permanent sale either.

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It’s also suggested that Marseille are interested in bringing him back and they were looking to package together a deal worth around €30m, but Arsenal are looking for way more and that appears to end their hopes of striking an agreement.

It will be interesting to see if he gets a chance in pre-season to prove himself and if he can force his way into the team, but everything points to him at least having some chance of playing a role for the Gunners this season.