According to le10sport, Leeds and Fulham are interested in signing Arsenal’s William Saliba on loan.
The report states that Mikel Arteta is considering a loan exit for the 19-year-old, who Ouest France said Rennes were prepared to abandon their pursuit of Juventus’ Daniele Rugani for.
Saliba was signed by Unai Emery in a £27 million deal from Saint-Etienne last summer. The teenager was then loaned back to the Ligue 1 side for the 2019/20 campaign, making 17 appearances in all competitions.
The Frenchman returned to north London for pre-season and was even handed the No.4 shirt – however, Arteta now looks to be considering another exit for the young talent.
Saliba is very highly-rated. He has been compared to Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk, as well as World Cup winner Raphael Varane, by his former coach Jean-Luc Vannuchi.
When asked who the centre-back plays like, The Telegraph quote Vannuchi as saying: ‘A mix of the two styles.
‘With Varane because of his speed and power, and with Van Dijk it is the interceptions, the positioning on the pitch.’
While it would be nice for Marcelo Bielsa to have a top prospect like Saliba in his ranks, we’re not sure that he is a necessary signing for Victor Orta to pursue.
After all, Leeds have already signed two new centre-backs this window in Diego Llorente and Robin Koch.
In that respect, signing another one, while also having Liam Cooper and Pascal Struijk, would cause mass congestion in that department.
Saliba is a fine talent, but there’s not much point in Bielsa giving him game time over the aforementioned names, only to see him return to Arsenal.
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