Speaking on the Ornstein & Chapman podcast, David Ornstein has shared what he’s heard about William Saliba at Arsenal, claiming that the rumours of him being allowed to leave Arsenal permanently in January are wide of the mark.
The journalist has long been the go-to guy when it comes to transfer news coming out of the Emirates, and he says that Saliba won’t be allowed to leave permanently, but he says that a loan deal is possible.
“Many Arsenal fans are apoplectic about this, they believe it’s unforgivable that he’s not playing,” Ornstein said about Saliba’s current situation.
“Well, you’ve got to remember that Mikel Arteta is not the coach that signed him, and that could be a factor in the equation as well, as there’s no loyalty there.”
The journalist went on to address recent reports that the French defender will be allowed to leave permanently this winter.
“There have been reports that he can leave. Well, that’s not my understanding, Arsenal are actually quite positive about the trajectory, they believe he will come good, but they recognise the need for him to get gametime,”
“I think there’s a good chance he’ll be loaned out in January,” Ornstein concluded, before running down his potential options, which seem to be either staying in the UK or moving back to France.
Fortunately, it seems as though Arsenal are still confident that Saliba is going to be a future asset at the London club.
It still doesn’t make much sense for a 15th-placed team in the Premier League to leave a £30 million centre-half out of their squad every week, but let’s not forget that he’s only 19 years old.
The centre-half may still have a decade until he’s at the peak of his powers, so it’s still very early days in his career, so the last thing he needs is for his manager or the higher-ups to jump the gun and put pressure on him.
Luckily though, it seems as though he’s here to stay, contrary to reports earlier this week that he was set to leave.
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