Reports emerging from France claim that William Saliba will not be returning to his former club to play out the Coupe de France final.
Arsenal agreed a deal with St Etienne to sign the 19 year-old defender last summer, whilst a one-year loan was included in the terms that saw him play this season with his former club.
That deal came to an end in June, and Saliba has joined up with our squad in preparation for the new season, but with the final of the Coupe de France having been put back to July 24, the clubs had entered into talks to try and extend that loan.
There was believed to have been issues over the training regime that Arsenal wanted to include in the new short-term loan following the youngsters injuries this term, although it personally sounded like the disagreement was more financial.
A clause would have been triggered had the defender played once more for St Etienne this season, and it seemed as though this fee was wanted to be scrapped by Arsenal, as they wouldn’t agree to pay the £2 Million fee.
The deadline is now believed to have passed, with no deal in place to allow the centre-back to try and earn his first trophy as a senior player.
The player was believed to be keen to participate in the final match-up, although his side will be going into the tie as under-dogs, with Paris Saint-Germain standing in their way of the trophy.
Was his fitness the issue over the deal? Should we have done more to allow Saliba to have featured in the final?
Patrick
