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The apparent rift between William Saliba and Mikel Arteta may force Arsenal into selling the young defender.
Arsenal paid St. Étienne £28 million for the central defender in 2019 signing him on a five year deal. He was immediately lent back to the French club for the following season and, when he was recalled to North London last summer, found himself on the side-lines until January, when he was lent again, this time to Nice.
He continued to impress I Ligue 1, and many Gunners fans expected him to be integrated into the squad for the season ahead. Instead, Arsenal paid £50 million on Ben White to play on Saliba’s position on the right-side of defence, and, instead, Saliba embarked on another loan spell, this time with Marseille.
It means that he has yet to make his competitive debut for Arsenal with nearly half of his original contract elapsed, and., although many at the Emirates still think he has a bright future, it is by no means clear if Arteta is ranked among them.
Saliba meanwhile, ahs becoming increasingly frustrated and has cooled on the whole idea of playing tor the North London side.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.