Was it fate that William Saliba signed for Arsenal?
After a long drawn out transfer negotiation, the teenage defender finally signed for the Gunners this week.
Arch rivals Tottenham reportedly tried to throw a spanner in the works, by making their own last-gasp move for him, but Saliba penned a long-term contract at the Emirates, before heading back to Saint Etienne on a season-long loan deal.
Arsenal had been in negotiations over a £25million move for much of the summer transfer window, with the payment plan and the loan back to France the main issues to deal with.
The Gunners have had a tight budget to play with and were concerned with paying a lump sum to the French side for a player they would not be able to use until the 2019/20 campaign.
A video of the centre-back's day in London, completing a medical and signing his contract at the Emirates was posted by the player and his agent Djibril Niang on Instagram soon after the transfer was completed.
And Niang has posted another social media update that the Gunners supporters will love.
Niang posted on his Instagram Stories on Saturday a photo of Saliba as a child with two other young footballers. And what was Saliba wearing? An Arsenal shirt.
Perhaps it was fate that he eventually made the move to the Emirates years later.
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