William Saliba has been included in France's squad for the Olympics - which will affect the Newcastle United target's preparations for the new season.
The French Football Federation have confirmed that the Arsenal defender is one of 18 players who have been named in Sylvain Ripoll's squad for the Tokyo games.
France's bid to win gold gets under way on July 22, against Mexico, before Les Bleus face South Africa and hosts Japan in their final group games on July 25 and July 28 respectively.
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If France make it out of Group A, Ripoll's side would then only need to win two further knockout ties to reach the final in Yokohoma on August 7 - a week before the new Premier League season gets under way.
Representing France at an Olympic Games will understandably be a huge honour for Saliba - incidentally former Newcastle winger Florian Thauvin has also been included in the squad - but the 20-year-old will miss a huge chunk of pre-season wherever he ends up this summer.
Although Arsenal spent £27m on Saliba in the summer of 2019, the centre-back has yet to play a competitive game for the Gunners despite catching the eye during loan spells at Saint-Etienne and Nice.
With Arsenal closing in on a £50m move for Brighton centre-back Ben White, Saliba is facing an uncertain future at the Emirates and the Frenchman could be loaned out yet again.
Saliba has been on Newcastle's radar for a while now and you can bet Steve Bruce, who wanted to sign Arsenal defender Rob Holding on loan last summer, will be monitoring developments.
Bruce already has good links with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and assistant Steve Round, which were only strengthened following the success of Joe Willock's loan stint at Newcastle last season, and a new centre-back is on the 60-year-old's summer wish list.
The Newcastle head coach previously watched Saliba play in the flesh for Saint-Etienne when Les Verts took on Newcastle in a pre-season friendly at St James' Park nearly two years ago.
Joelinton broke the deadlock that afternoon after the Magpies' record signing beat the offside trip to run on to Fabian Schar's long ball forward.
After knocking the ball past goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier, Joelinton held off Saint-Etienne captain Loic Perrin to put Newcastle in front.
A frustrated Saliba, who had previously thrown an arm up in the hope the assistant would flag for offside, retrieved the ball before booting it up to the halfway line for the restart.
