Arsenal fans continue to grow more and more excited about William Saliba despite the fact his first-team opportunities have been extremely limited since his transfer from Saint-Etienne two years ago.
The 20-year-old has been shipped out on loan three times since his arrival, once back to Saint-Etienne which was followed by a spell with Nice and this season's move to Marseille, leaving him without a first-team appearance for the Gunners.
But he has impressed in Ligue 1 under Jorge Sampaoli and alongside Matteo Guendouzi so far this term, playing the entire 90 minutes of all but one of their top-flight games so far.
It has led to plenty of calls for Mikel Arteta and Edu to bring the defender back during the January transfer window, but with Saliba seemingly making good progress in Marseille, that seems unlikely.
Julien Maynard, a journalist with Telefoot, also reported on Sunday evening that the player would almost definitely be remaining at the Stade Velodrome for the entirety of the 2021-22 campaign.
"According to our information, despite some rumors, there is no question for William Saliba to leave OM this winter. The defender will remain Marseille at least until the end of the season," he tweeted.
It comes shortly after Saliba himself poured praise on the French giants for helping to take his game to another level.
He also talked up the intensity of the training under Sampaoli, perhaps offering Mikel Arteta a hint as to how to get the best out of him in the future.
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“[Pablo] Longoria told me that if I wanted to reach the next level in my progression, I had to come here. If you can perform at Marseille, to play under this pressure, you can play anywhere else," Saliba said in an interview with Telefoot, via Get French Football News.
“I hadn’t even signed yet and I was already getting messages from supporters. I’ve never seen passion like this, in this town the only thing that matters in OM.
"With [Jorge] Sampaoli, we have to give it our all from start to finish. We can’t do things half-heartedly. Sometimes I don’t put enough power on my passes and he tells me: 'those are kids’ passes!'”
