Arsenal want to keep William Saliba and Marseille now appear to be moving onto other targets in their search for a defender.
The Gunners are going for a new left-sided centre back this summer with Ajax’s Lisandro Martinez wanted.
The plan would be for Martinez to support Gabriel Magalhaes, whilst Ben White and Rob Holding are still in place eon the right.
Yet there is another player to factor in as William Saliba returns to Arsenal this summer.
The French defender’s loan spell at Marseille is over and this may finally be the time for him to shine at Arsenal.
Arsenal want to keep William Saliba
Arsenal paid £27million to sign Saliba back in the summer of 2019, landing him from Saint-Etienne in France.
Having beaten Tottenham to his signature, there were high hopes for Saliba at Arsenal.
Yet three years on from that transfer coup, Saliba is still yet to even play a Premier League game for the Gunners.
Arsenal sent Saliba back on loan to Saint-Etienne after securing his signature, but that didn’t take him closer to first-team action.
A January 2021 move to Nice followed before Arsenal decided a third loan spell was best, sending him to Marseille.
Saliba’s first loan was cut short due to COVID-19 and his second came halfway through the season, so a full season at Marseille was ideal.
The 21-year-old excelled for Marseille last season and Marseille have been hoping to keep hold of him this summer.
Marseille allegedly want to pay £25million for Saliba but they appear to have little hope of a deal.
That’s because Fabrizio Romano has taken to Twitter to claim that Arsenal would only sell Saliba if they receive a ‘crazy’ offer this summer.
£25million – cheaper than what Arsenal paid three years ago – does not fit that criteria.
Romano then told Caught Offside that Marseille have now moved on to other players because they have lost hope of signing Saliba permanently.
Saliba may have to start as backup to White, but he will hope for his first Premier League minutes this coming season.
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