According to L’Equipe, the lawyer of Arsenal defender William Saliba will meet with the club’s hierarchy this week to try and thrash out his future.
It’s suggested that the Arsenal board have yet to tell Saliba what they plan to do with him in January, but a meeting will now take place in the coming days.
Saint-Etienne want to take Saliba back on loan again, and his representatives are thought to have an ‘excellent relationship’ with the Ligue 1 side that should facilitate a move.
Premier League move?
Get French Football News add that Saint-Etienne face a battle to re-sign Saliba, as Premier League teams want to sign him on loan too.
Arsenal would be open to such a move in theory, but the Gunners fear being embarrassed by Saliba outperforming Arsenal in the Premier League table.
Loaning the 19-year-old to a side who finish above Arsenal would not be a particularly great look, so the Gunners may try to save face by sending him elsewhere.
What has Mikel Arteta said?
Saliba was left out of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday night, with Mikel Arteta still choosing to overlook him.
After the game, Arteta told Football.London that he made the decision to leave Saliba out of the squad entirely as a January move is now being discussed internally.
“He cannot be involved because he’s not in the squad,” said Arteta. “No we made the decision with him and we will see what we are going to do in January. We are talking about it yes,” he added when asked if Arsenal plan to loan Saliba out.
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