The Athletic are reporting this evening that Arsenal central defender William Saliba will join Marseille on loan.
What’s the story?
It is being reported that Arsenal have agreed a deal with Marseille to send Saliba out on loan for next season.
The French club will not have the option to sign the defender on a permanent deal.
Arsenal will get a loan fee, and Saliba will undergo a medical before completing the move to French club Marseille.
Newcastle United and Lille also wanted the 20-year-old.
Long-term future
The Athletic are claiming that despite the French centre-back going out on loan again, he ‘remains a part of the club’s long-term thinking’.
Arsenal paid £27 million for the youngster, according to The Athletic.
It is unlikely that the Gunners will be able to recoup that money if they sell him next summer.
Saliba stayed on loan at Saint-Etienne for the 2019-20 campaign as part of the agreement with Arsenal.
After struggling to break in the Gunners’ first team in the first half of last season, the youngster joined Nice on loan in the January transfer window.
Saliba is only 20 and has time on his side.
However, going out on loan again, especially back to France, is unlikely to be helpful in terms of establishing himself in manager Mikel Arteta’s first team.
A loan move to a club in the Premier League would have been better for Saliba.
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