William Saliba is set to join Nice on loan for the rest of the season and Arsenal fans have reacted to the news with a mixture of emotions.
Saliba has failed to break into Mikel Arteta’s first team following his £28million move from Saint-Etienne in July 2019.
The 19-year-old centre-back was highly touted ahead of his arrival in north London, having interested Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Tottenham, but is yet to make a first-team appearance for the Gunners.
He has been frustrated by the lack of opportunities at Arsenal and made it clear he wished to return to France on loan in order to gain experience.
Saliba, who has been left out of Arsenal’s Europa League squad, saw a loan move back to Saint-Etienne fall through in October and the last few months have been filled with rumours of his departure.
The situation has now finally been resolved, with the young defender ready to try and make an impact at Nice, who are currently 12th in Ligue 1.
Some Gunners fans see the news as positive, with Arsenal potentially benefiting if Saliba returns in the summer after a successful half-season in his native France.
Others had sympathy for Saliba’s situation and reflected on what they viewed as wasteful management by Arsenal.
Here’s what fans had to say about the news.
Arteta has tried to defend Arsenal’s management of the France Under-20 international, who has featured for the Gunners’ Under-23 side this season.
“To be fair, he’s made massive improvements in the last few months and it’s been a really tricky situation for him,” Arteta told football.london recently.
“As I mentioned before, we designed a pathway for him and there were a lot of things that happened to him in his personal life and professionally as well.”
