William Saliba looks set to return to France this week ahead of the French cup final, with Arsenal and St Etienne believed to be on course to agree terms over an extension of his loan.
The 19 year-old agreed a deal to move to the Emirates last summer, with part of the terms including that Saliba was to spend the current campaign with his former club, but that initial deal had been completed.
The French league was cut-short due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and the defender has not played since March 8, but with his former side St Etienne into the final of the Coupe de France, the decision has been made to complete the competition.
Saliba is now believed to be keen to participate in the one-off match, in hope of winning his first ever senior trophy, but recent reports had claimed that a deal was on the rocks.
A payment of €2.5 Million is believed to be due should Saliba appear for his former side once more this season, which did look to be proving an issue between the clubs, but The Mirror now claims that late talks look to be on the positive side.
Saliba may well find himself back in France before the end of the week in preparation for the big final.
The centre-back remains unavailable for Arsenal following his loan deal, but will still be expected to be back with the squad ahead of the start of the new campaign.
Is it in both teams’ favour Saliba to feature in the upcoming final?
Patrick
Please don’t get injured… repeat x100…..
exactly the last thin we need is another injured player on our books .
Incredible if true !! Somebody in the Arsenal management has lost their marbles and seem to be happy to pay £2m for that !!
Perish the thought,but if he gets a bad injury as well, that decision would rank alongside the RVP, Sanchez and Ramsey ones !
A really difficult situation for Mikel, I believe.
Does he want a player who has just missed out on a cup final, being mentally ready to play for the club that denied him that opportunity?
I think St Ettiene are the real villains here though, expecting us to agree to him playing in the first place and then expecting to receive over £2,000,000 as well (if I have the situation correct?).
Let’s hope he doesn’t get injured, has a great game, wins the Cup and returns home fully motivated and thanking our club for letting him play.
If they’ve found common ground, (especially if we aren’t paying the bonus), I’d say he should play. Besides , there’s no chance he’ll run out for us this season.
The best decision for all the parties involved.