William Saliba is set to leave Arsenal on loan in the coming days, but the question will now be whether he will return to the Emirates Stadium.
football.london understands the Gunners have agreed a deal with Ligue 1 club OGC Nice over a loan deal until the end of the season and it's understood there is no option-to-buy.
Saliba has not seen any first-team action since his £27million move from Saint-Etienne last year, initially spending time on loan back at his former club before returning ahead of this season.
The young Frenchman has seen no first-team outings this season, only featuring for the youngsters in the EFL Trophy and Premier League 2.
Some reports in France have claimed Saliba is not likely to see any action at Arsenal until Mikel Arteta has left the club, but as confirmed by our Arsenal correspondent Chris Wheatley, Saliba will aim to challenge for a first-team spot when he returns from his loan.
And he may be on track to do just that with Arteta admitting recently that the defender has made 'massive improvements'.
“Whenever we have the spaces and we believe that he’s ready to play with us,” he said.
“To be fair, he’s made massive improvements in the last few months and it’s been a really tricky situation for him.
“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.
“Now we’ve made some steps forwards, he’s working really hard and played for the under-21s again."
It's understood Arsenal will cover the majority of Saliba's wages during the defender's time back in France and that a deal will be completed shortly after his medical, which is expected to take place this morning.
