Famed Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed that William Saliba could leave the club in the January transfer window.
The Frenchman only joined the club in 2019, when he moved from Ligue 1 outfit Saint-Etienne on a permanent deal. He was sent back on loan to the French club and joined up with the north London side this summer.
However, it seems as though his time at the club could already be up, according to Romano.
He said: “Arsenal are considering to send Saliba on loan. Arsenal not happy with his situation at the club, just for the player. AC Milan tried to sign him on a permanent deal but Arsenal immediately said no. They want him in the future.” (via Here We Go podcast, November 11th 2020)
Should Arsenal sell William Saliba this summer?
Yes
No
Whether Saliba will get any sort of regular game time at the Emirates Stadium is yet to be seen after he was left out of the Premier League and Europa League squad. However, it doesn’t look likely that the 19-year-old will break into the team anytime soon with the likes of Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhaes and David Luiz ahead of him in the pecking order.
It does prove to be a very confusing situation especially when you look at how well he performed last season.
Despite playing just 12 times in the French top-flight last campaign, Saliba still managed to average 1.6 tackles per game, more than any defender bar Calum Chambers and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. His reading of the game is well beyond his tender years, also averaging 1.8 interceptions per game, more than any Gunners man.
He’s also been the subject of mass praise from Jean-Luc Vannuchi who likened the £20.25m-rated youngster to the likes of Raphael Varane and Virgil van Dijk.
From his performances to the highest of praise from a former coach, Saliba sounds like a player who could well fill the void at centre-half. It makes his omission all the more shocking, something that I can only put down to mismanagement from Mikel Arteta.
In other news, Arteta glossed over this key issue after the defeat to Aston Villa last Sunday.
