The French defender William Saliba first moved to the Emirates Stadium in a 36 million USD transfer back in the summer of 2019 from Saint Etienne but failed to make a competitive outing for the Gunners.North Londoners needed the 20-year-old to gain some experience playing competitive top-tier football before giving him some Premier League minutes so they sent him on a couple of loans. It looks like the loan period is about to end for Saliba.Interesting fact is that he was coached by Kylian Mbappe’s father when taking his first footballing steps in St. Etienne. Nowadays, Saliba impressed at his current loan at Marseille and has more than enough reason to expect he will be given a chance at the Emirates, according to reports.New Neymar from Ghana: Kamaldeen Sulemana is the new Ligue 1 starHe spent the past two years back on loan in France and his performances in the Ligue 1 indicate he should be welcomed back by Arsenal next season and integrated into the first team.Arsenal fans raised questions when the 20-year-old was sent out on loan to a third different club earlier this year (St. Etienne, Nice and Marseille).Club’s not-so-encouraging plans for Saliba were even more obvious when he also stripped of his No 4 shirt earlier this year following the arrival of Ben White from Brighton.However, the Gunners have been tracking the Frenchman all year and are satisfied with his progress, according to transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano. The report also claims that, after playing a key role for Jorge Sampaoli’s Marseille this term, Arsenal will trust Saliba to become a first-team player from the start of next season. Lacklustre Arsenal pull off a goalless draw at much better BrightonYoung Frenchman has collected nine appearances for the Velodrome squad since the start of the campaign, helping them to an unbeaten start in their first five matches of the season – after which they recorded back-to-back losses. Sampaoli’s crew now sits ten points behind Ligue 1 leaders PSG. While in north London last season, Saliba has made frustration over a lack of game time at the Emirates Stadium very well known on social media – he complained on Instagram that he was ‘locked up’.##NAJAVA_MECA_5874016##Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believed Saliba was not prepared last season and did not introduce him with a single minute of play, before he was sent out on loan to Nice in the second half of the season. Since Arteta took over at the Emirates Stadium in late 2019, he has overseen the arrival of two centre-back signings – White and Gabriel, while Pablo Mari has also been used in the backline. Spanish tactician believes Saliba is closer to making a breakthrough at Arsenal.’I know that sometimes it’s difficult to explain or understand after the money that the club has spent trying to bring him in, to send him on loan’, Gunners boss said in pre-season. ‘But a lot of things have happened to him he’s a long-term player for us and we need to protect him as well. And giving him three or four games is not enough.’For him, he needs much more than that, because what happened in the last 18 months, he’s been through some personal problems as well that we have to try to help him and stay as close as possible to him.’And now he needs to play, play and play and enjoy his profession as well. And in order to do that I think we found the right club with him. He’s very happy to go there now. Hopefully he can enjoy his football and be ready for us for next season.’##NAJAVA_MECA_5874082##Along with Arteta, club’s sporting director Edu gave his view on the Saliba situation.’Together with William (Saliba), we have decided it will be good for his continued development to spend another season on loan.”William joined us as an 18-year-old, and he is still only 20, so he is still developing all the time. William is a player with strong natural ability and next season has the potential to be really beneficial for him at Marseille, a good club.’To play another season in Ligue 1 will be very important for his development. We will of course be keeping in close contact with William during the season and wish him all the best in France with Marseille.’After the international break, North London will face South London as Arsenal welcome Crystal Palace. In Ligue 1, Marseille host Lorient – another chance for Saliba to impose himself to the Gunners.
