Arsenal were put in an awkward position last week after RMC Sports reported that William Saliba wants to remain with Marseille even after the end of his loan spell.
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According to reports, the player was reported to have said he wants to play in the Champions League after helping Marseille seal a return to the competition for the first time since 2013-14 season.
Saliba, 21, enjoyed a stellar campaign with The Phocaeans where he helped them reached the semi finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League and a second place finish in the Ligue un.
Amongst his host of impressive stats this season, William Saliba won possession in the defensive third more times (152) than any other player in Ligue 1 this season.
He has been named the young best player in the French top-flight, beating the likes of Aurelien Tchouameni, Castello Lukeba, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Nuno Mendes to the award.
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta told RMC earlier in the week when responding to the claim Saliba wants Marseille stay: “William Saliba has to come back. He has the experience to be competitive with us. We sent him to Marseille for his growth.”
“William wanted to be regular starter as you know but now we want him back at Arsenal.” he added.
Arsenal sent Saliba out on loan last season to get more minutes as Arteta doesn’t see him ready to walk into the Arsenal first team and after a successful loan to Marseille, he will return to the Emirates this summer after proving himself as one of the best center back in the top five leagues in the concluded season.
Arteta continued: “If he had stayed with us this year, with a match of Premier League a week, with Ben White and Gabriel, he wouldn’t have had half the playing time he had with Marseille, that’s for sure.”
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Without playing any part in Europe, Arsenal played just 45 competitive matches this season, which could have meant Saliba will not have enough playtime had he stayed, because of the £50 million arrival of Ben White from Brighton, last summer so the French youngster had to be on the move.
Saliba made more forward passes (987) than any other player in Ligue 1 this season and with 32.4% of them going forward, this progressive style of passing would only help to increase Arsenal’s chances of dominating opponents.
Arsenal fans are looking forward to having the player they paid €30 million to Saint Etienne for in the summer of 2019 under Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta will be pleased to add such a massive talent to his squad at no cost.
It is also reported that there will be discussion of a potential new contract but it is up to Saliba to decide, as the club will have to assure him of enough chances before committing his future.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
