Arsenal make a promise to William Saliba over return and ready new contract offer
According to reports, Arsenal has informed William Saliba that he will be an integral part of the first-team squad next season and may possibly offer the defender a new deal.
The Frenchman had a fantastic season on loan at Marseille, winning the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season award, and he was eager to stay after the team clinched Champions League football.
However, Arsenal have no plans to loan him out again or sell him, and have assured the 21-year-old that he is part of Mikel Arteta’s plans, according to French publication L’Equipe.
In fact, Arsenal has promised Saliba a ‘integral position’ in the team, with Saliba potentially replacing one of Ben White or Gabriel Magalhaes.
The north London club recognises that they have a huge talent on their hands and want to begin reintegrating him back into the setup.
Marseille have accepted that they will not be able to recruit Saliba on a permanent basis and have began looking for replacements, with Le Havre’s Isaak Toure – who shares an agent with the Gunners loanee – their primary target.
Arsenal’s decision-makers have also discussed offering Saliba a new contract to underline their faith in him, as his present contract expires in 2024.
It remains to be seen whether Saliba takes that offer, and the young defender may want to see if Arteta follows through on his pledge to play him more before committing to an extension.
The former Saint-Etienne man was dissatisfied with how he was treated by Arsenal two summers ago, failing to make a first-team matchday squad, sliding to the development squad, and then being loaned to Nice in January 2021.
In an interview with RMC Sport, Arteta stated that he expected Saliba to return to his squad next season, saying, “He has to come back.”
“He has the experience and has been in the necessary environment in order to be competitive with us.
“If he had stayed with us this year, where we had one Premier League game every week, with Ben White and Gabriel, he wouldn’t have had half the playing time he had with Marseille, that’s for sure.
“For his growth and what he can do next season, that wouldn’t have been good. William wasn’t with us because he wouldn’t have had the playing time to gain experience. That’s it, there’s nothing else.”
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Arsenal make a promise to William Saliba over return and ready new contract offer
