Olympique Marseille will reportedly open discussions with Arsenal in the near-future over William Saliba, with the French club eager to retain the defender for another season.
According to La Provence via GFFN, the Ligue 1 side are keen to keep Saliba beyond this season, with the defender having an outstanding campaign with Marseille after leaving Arsenal on loan for the season.
With the same publication hailing Saliba’s campaign with Marseille as ‘the season of his life’ it makes sense when the French giants are open to keeping the 20-year-old beyond this May, yet signing the defender could prove a challenge.
Multiple reports indicate that Arsenal plan to use Saliba next season, with the Gunners currently having just three centre-backs on their books following the departure of Calum Chambers in January and Pablo Mari’s loan move to Udinese.
With European football potentially returning to the Emirates next season, Saliba has a strong chance of featuring regularly for Arsenal under Mikel Arteta, yet as per GFFN, the Gunners could sell the Frenchman for €30m (£25m).
Saliba’s form has been hard to ignore for Arsenal this season. However, with Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes forming an incredible centre-back partnership, there is a genuine chance the defender could only be second-choice for the Gunners.
Marseille will hope Arsenal miss out on Europe if they are to land Saliba
After some rough treatment at Arsenal since joining in 2019, Saliba has the foresight to know if he will be a regular or not at the club next season, and Marseille will be praying the north London side miss out on Europe come the end of May.
Indeed, Saliba has a realistic shot of playing regularly for Arsenal should they qualify for any form of European competition, and for Marseille, another low-place finish for the Gunners will be perfect for the French club in their chase to sign Saliba on a permanent deal.
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