L’Équipe report this morning that Arsenal have decided to keep French international defender William Saliba, who was on loan at Marseille this season.
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Manager Mikel Arteta had told RMC Sport yesterday that this season’s Ligue 1 young player of the year “had to” come back and that he now had the “experience and necessary environment to be competitive with us.”
Behind the scenes, the North London club have also told the centre-back that they intend to make him a part of the project next season, and have even brought up the prospect of discussing a contract with renewal with his current deal expiring in 2024.
Coming off an impressive 51-game season, Saliba will want to keep a consistent flow of playing time as he hopes to make Didier Deschamps’ World Cup squad.
Marseille were looking to renew his loan deal and use the prospect of regular game time and the Champions League as arguments. However, Saliba will ostensibly not go against the will of his parent club, having never told OM president Pablo Longoria that he wanted to stay at all costs.