William Saliba is in talks with Arsenal over leaving on loan next month, manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed.
As revealed by football.london before Arsenal's 4-1 Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat to Manchester City, the £28million signing from Saint Etienne will not play a part in the Gunners' season and is expected to head on loan to France next month.
Saliba played no part in the match on Tuesday night and has been restricted to appearances for the Under-23's this season, having had personal difficulties earlier on in the campaign.
Fans have clamoured to see the 19-year-old centre back but he has yet to be named in a matchday squad.
"He cannot be involved because he's not in the squad," Arteta said, when asked why Saliba wasn't involved against Pep Guardiola's side.
"We made that decision with him and we'll see what we're going to do in January. We are talking about it [loan move] yes."
Arsenal tried and failed to secure a loan move for Saliba in the summer window, with a number of Championship clubs interested, but the France Under-20 international looks set to return to Ligue 1 to try and get competitive minutes under his belt.
Saliba was signed from St Etienne for £27m in the summer of 2019 and after spending a campaign on loan at his former club, arrived in north London this year.
He is registered to play in the Premier League which makes his lack of involvement in the Carabao Cup this season, traditionally a competition to experiment with younger players, confusing.
