William Saliba’s loan club Saint-Etienne have said that the defender will not be available for the final of the Coupe de France later this month due to an agreement not being reached with Arsenal.
The player joined the Gunners last summer in a £25 million, but part of the deal saw him go straight back to his former club on a 12-month loan.
However, it seemed that that would be cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the French league being brought to an early halt in April.
But, there was one more match that Saliba could have played in for his former club - the Coupe de France final vs Paris Saint Germain.
Speaking this week, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta was keen for Saliba to play in the match.
"He needs to stay there," he said. "We have an agreement with Saint-Etienne. He has been there all year. He has earned his right to play in that final if his manager wants him to do that.
"We have to give him the opportunity to do that, to enjoy that. Then we can have him after that."
However, in a strong statement released by Saint-Etienne just a matter of hours later, the French club confirmed that an agreement was unable to be reached between the two clubs, branding Arsenal’s terms as ‘unacceptable’.
“AS Saint-Étienne was pleased to learn yesterday Tuesday that Mikel Arteta, Arsenal coach, was ready to leave William Saliba at the disposal of the club until the final of the Coupe de France,” it read.
“William Saliba had been training for several days with Claude Puel's group and was obviously very enthusiastic about the idea of finishing his course in Green with such a match.
“Alas, ASSE, which simply wanted the extension of the initial loan until July 24, could not find an agreement in the evening with Arsenal to allow the defender to properly prepare and play this meeting, the English club imposing absolutely unacceptable sports and financial conditions.”
It seems that Saliba will now return to Arsenal ahead of next season’s Premier League campaign.
