William Saliba is reportedly set to secure a loan move to Marseille, with his Arsenal future far from secure.
Signed for £27million in the summer of 2019, the Frenchman is yet to make a competitive appearance for the Gunners.
In the 2019/20 season he returned to Saint-Etienne, but thanks to injuries and the curtailment of the Ligue 1 season, Mikel Arteta felt he had not gained the required experience.
Arteta subsequently left him out of his Premier League and Europa League squads at the start of last campaign, restricting his appearances to Under-23 outings in the Papa John’s Trophy.
“I explained that he needed that transition year when we decided to buy him and send him on loan to Saint-Etienne,” Arteta said shortly after his omission.
“For many reasons, that didn’t happen – he didn’t have that transition year and he needs to go through that.
“At the moment, with the amount of central defenders we have in the team, we had to leave him out of the squad, which is painful. Now we have some injuries and we could have used him but this is part of the profession.”
Saliba joined Nice on loan in January, before the Arsenal boss confirmed he would hold talks with the centre-back in regards to his role at the club moving forward.
Those talks appear to have resulted in the decision to send him back out on loan, with the Athletic reporting that he is set to join Marseille for the season.
The 20-year-old had hoped to compete for a place with his parent club, but with the imminent signing of Ben White that now looks even more difficult.
Football.London claim that a deal for the Brighton defender is 'all but complete' and that the £50m transfer should be completed after Euro 2020.
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That leaves Saliba battling with Gabriel, Rob Holding, Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers and the new arrival for two spots in the heart of Arteta’s defence.
Arsenal have therefore decided that it would be more beneficial for the Frenchman to spend another season out on loan, gaining experience away from the glaring eyes of the Premier League.
Should he spend another season out on loan, Saliba will have just two years remaining on the contract he signed upon his arrival.
However, the Athletic do suggest that the player remains in Arteta’s long-term plans and could be handed another chance ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
Saliba has previously opened up on his frustrations with Arteta, suggesting he wasn’t given a fair chance to break into the side.
‘I arrived there as they were finishing the league season, so I was training alone,” he said earlier this year. “As soon as they came back from holidays, we quickly had the first friendly matches where I lacked rhythm and was a bit insufficient physically”
“The coach immediately told me that I was not ready. I would have at least liked to have a chance to rediscover my rhythm. But this is football, it’s like that.”
