Report – Arsenal in talks to loan out new signing

Oest-France via Get French Football News claims that Arsenal is in talks with Rennes over sending William Saliba to the French side on loan.

The 19-year-old joined Arsenal last summer and he was allowed to spend last season on loan at Saint Etienne to continue his development.

He played several games for the French side and he was expected to walk straight into the Arsenal first team.

The defender has even been compared to Virgil van Dijk, such was the hype surrounding him and Arsenal fans thought that their club has finally landed a decent defender.

They signed Gabriel Magalhaes from Lille this summer to become the long-term partner of Saliba.

While Gabriel has started playing for the Gunners, fans are yet to see Saliba play.

He was even missing in Arsenal’s Carabao Cup game last night, and it has now been reported that he might be joining Rennes on loan.

The French side is playing in the Champions League this season and they are keen to bolster their team so that they can have a fine campaign.

They have lost Joris Gnagnon and Jeremy Morel this summer and Sun Sport claims that they want Saliba to come in and fill the void left by those departures.

Tags William Saliba

61 Comments

  1. When people say Arsenal fans are delusional. Never doubt it. Arsenal fans are very delusional for expecting so much from young Saliba.
    Arteta knew this was happening and started warning us since last season not to place expectations on the boy.
    I’m glad Arteta knows what he’s doing and he’s been protecting the boy.
    The boy has been through a lot, it was Ornstein that posted in May that Saliba was going through bereavement after losing a loved one.
    Since then, Saliba’s picture on even Instagram has been that of his Mom holding him as a child.
    He’s been going through a lot personally and is all alone down here away from Family.
    Fans who were quick to jump the gun and questy Arteta’s handling of him should really look at themselves twice.
    Still I bet people won’t learn and would continue to jump Intl conclusion.
    Arteta mentioned a lot of times that he was struggling to settle in and needs time and fans ignored it.
    A loan back to France would be best for him, at least he gets to be closer to the rest of his family that way and hopefully he comes out of this stronger.

    P.S: Expecting the boy to come in and solve our defensive issues just like that still baffles me though. Fans! Fans!! Ha! What more can I say

    1. There’s only one conclusion;

      He’s just not good enough.

      I once said even before we bought Gabriel that Saliba and Gabriel were ORDINARY defenders, and people blasted me.

      Arsenal fans were conned by these pundits spreading wrong gospel of how our defence was very poor. Fans became so desperate to reinforce an already good defence; they purposed on seeing “anyone” that came in as a “messiah”.

      Now they realize it’s been the weak midfield all along.

      I want to be proved wrong.

      1. You’ve never seen him play but apparently “He’s not good enough”.
        He’s had a whole lot of pundits praise his game and talk about what he can do, has had millions of people who watched him and talked about what he can do, he has had the French National paper which is L’Equipe talk about him and praise what he can do.
        He was on the shortlist for FIFA Golden boy as a defender not an attacker, and apparently according to you, the fact that he’s been going through personal traumas and Get French Football Described it is not enough reason to protect the boy.
        It is because “He’s not good enough”.
        What do I know? For you to make yourself feel good and right, what the kid has been going through doesn’t matter, Agenda must Agend.
        I can’t with you people

          1. Hahahaha. I have no agenda. Actually am one of the rare fans who watch our matches with real keen eye to see where we can improve.

            All I want is the coach to give him opportunities and we see if am right or wrong. Because we spent big dimes for our standard.

            Is that wrong to complain???

        1. Some people on here don’t know anything and just chat waffle.
          There probably about 10 people on here that i respect for their views 99.9% of the time.

          Some are so wet behind the ear and respond to nonsense as fact, dont research anything because ”whats printed in the Sun ” is fact when 90% of the time its more fictional than lord of the rings

      2. Always with the negative vibes Herbz. How can you say Saliba is no good if you haven’t seen him play? He is a young lad in a bad situation at the moment. Seems like MA is looking out for him, unlike some fans that jist want to shout negative comments because thats what they love to do

    2. Stop making excuses Eddie, every time there is something you are right at the front making excuses for MA. Supporting someone is one thing but to be completely blind is other. If Saliba was facing all these issues then why didnt the club extend his loan with the French club where he was and if the club n MA are so sensitive then why did they not let him play in final. Simple answer is he is not MA’s signing and MA does not want him…this exactly same as Martenelli when he was fit Nkeitiah was preferred over him by MA. Gabi is similar boat as Saliba. He is young, away from family I’m new country and has not played for most 6months but then that did not stop MA to through him into the match straight away….I guess everyone has their favourites and we don’t see their faults.

      1. For the first time I totally agree with you moshan, MA also have my full support but some of his decisions are getting me worried. Even before Gabby injury MA keep playing Nketiah ahead of him even when everyone knows Martinelli is way way better than him.

  2. I keep seeing people blaming Kroenke for no good reason.

    In as much as he makes mistakes, he cannot be blamed for recruitment mistakes being made these days.

    How can we spend close to £30m on a player and loan him out?? It’s not like we have unlimited resources like Chelsea. This just shows that he wasn’t good enough in the first place.
    Other example are
    – Pepe; Big money, lazy player.
    – Gabriel (£30m) playing bit-part role.

      1. Whose mistakes are Guendouzi and Torreira who were branded messiahs.

        It’s the poor recruitment and partly the coach.

    1. Sending a 30m player that is 19, had hardly any football last season due to a number of factors out on loan to basically re do last seasons development is the right call imo.

      As for Gabriel, he hadn’t played competitive game since March, SINCE MARCH.

      Have you ever played professional football?
      When you haven’t played much competitive football for an extended period of time, you lose a few yards, stamina is reduced aswel as a few other things like your touch, your footballing brain slows a little aswel.

      Training doesnt give you all these things back, it helps but you need to ease back into things at a steady pace.
      the prem and Ligue Un are nothing alike aswel.
      We play much faster and its much more aggressive.
      Then Gabriel can’t speak great English so you have that on top of everything else.

      I would expect him to be a major part of the starting line ups we field over the next month or so, but be patient!

      1. He played 12 Ligue 1 matches out of 28 completed match days. That’s not that great, but it’s not awful and it’s not a whole season blown. He still participated in over 40% of the season and played the full 90 minutes in 11/12 of those games. I get your point but I don’t feel like he missed a full season of development. He was still a starter for a top flight side in a top 5 league aged 18. That is more experience than any exclusive academy player. Of course everything I am saying is useless since Arteta is the one who sees him every day.

        1. 12 games, mom dying, injury upon injury cancelled campaign.
          Lots went on for the young guy in a short space of time.
          so he played 12 games, he was injured up till about 2 maybe 3 weeks before he returned to us.
          That is alot of time to miss out on development.
          If he does go out on loan and is injury free, I’m sure he will come back stronger and fight for a place in the team

      2. Keep bringing up the excuses.

        Tell me of any other team in EPL that does this “easing” players.

        In as much as Torreira is not technical enough, this approach is what threw him further into the deep hole he’s in.

  3. It’s easy to forget how young these guys are, particularly when are all desperate for Arsenal to compete at the highest level.

    I feel fortunate that we have a manager who seems to have a plan on how to grow the team, protect young assets and still field a competitive side. Total faith that Arteta will do what’s best for Saliba and Arsenal in the long-term. Plenty of cover unless something drastic happens in the next few days.

    Having said that, cant wait until Saliba is deemed ready – he looks like he’s got all the tools to be a great CB.

  4. I think Arteta is doing a great job and he knows what’s best for his developing players .Fans let’s stay calm and leave Arteta to play his role .

  5. Mixed opinion right now. Why spend 30mill on a young defender that is going to be loaned out for two years? Leicester just spent similar money on Saliba’s young partner from last year and I highly doubt he’ll be given a 2 year loan period to break him in. If he’s not ready then he’s not ready and can’t blame Arteta for having a player that isn’t ready. But it is a pretty big shame that we will have to wait a while to see him in an Arsenal shirt, but hoping he reaches his potential.

    1. We tend to say Kroenke is a tight wad too liberally. During that window that saw us buy Pepe, and Saliba, that’s over 100M spent. In what way are Arsenal benefitting from these transactions? Raul and other folks involved with these transfers really screwed up! 100M wasted! It’s not always Kroenke’s fault.

    2. It’s got nothing to do with him being ready, we loaned him back to St Etienne as they wanted to keep him & we wanted him & thought his cost will go up next summer so agreed to it which was smart imo, since then he’s had an up & down season playing a few games then injury few games injured again, then he loses his Mum who was battling health issues, all this at 18/19 years of age & a transfer to a massive club in Arsenal, then the season was cut short & he hasn’t played since apart from a friendly, why don’t some of you get this situation, you are inhumane at best & don’t trust the team behind Arteta who clearly know the player, his fitness & his state of mind since they’ve been working with him for 2 months now, yes it’s annoying we’re loaning him again but surely that’s a better option than putting him under even more pressure playing for Arsenal, he just needs games & to get back fit, I’m sure he will come back next summer raring to go

  6. Are you telling me Rob Holding or David Luis is better than this kid? I honestly don’t even have any words for Arteta right now.

    What a time to be an Arsenal fan; all the hopes I had for this season have gradually deteriorated to protect my mental state, and I advice everyone out there who’s set their hopes high to calmly retract your hopes of us challenging this season.

    So someone who lost his mom can’t be kept and eased in? Sending him back to France for what exactly? Why did we sign someone who won’t be with us for 2 years?

    Anyways, like I said, I will just support the team as usual with zero hopes of improving, if they surprise me; Good👏 if they crumble as usual, I won’t be surprised either.

    I wish everyone the best of 2020/2021 season, we have seen worst so nothing should be new to anyone anymore.

    1. We’re allowing him to go back to France so he can be close to his family, if the club feel this his in his best interests who is anyone & I mean anyone to argue with it, surely the player will appreciate what Arsenal are doing & he will be extremely loyal to the club because of the way we have treated him, like a human being NOT a commodity who we tell play or else come on guys get a grip

  7. Please you pals should allow this young lad to relax,the time will come, st Etienne games with saliba 18 matches 10 clean sheets 38 points without saliba 29 games 39 points and just 5 clean sheets,the lad is good he just needs time,he will prove himself soon,it ain’t easy as you think,losing someone close can brake someone down,if doubt me check Adriano he lost his dad and since then he hasn’t been himself up till today,please give saliba a break and stop judging the young lad.

    1. No one is judging the lad, why loan him to France? so you mean he should go play in France so we should be left with David Luis and Rob Holding?

      Why can’t he partner Gabriel while we all cheer and support him even when he makes mistakes?

      1. What is there to understand? As simple as this,his English is not okay yet and he is still far from home,he needs to adapt to our style of play,lol that’s what you would say he should partner Gabriel and make mistake so you can cheer I see you want to ruin his career coz not all fans can take that from him,if loaning him back is the best decision for MA then I’m 100% with him on this,moreover we still have bunch of defenders in the team and all would be available after international break,saliba was signed coz he is seen as the future so don’t mix things up try to understand the only issues we have currently is in the midfield,thank you.

      2. We paid 30million for him on a 5years contract, out of the 5years he will be spending 2years out on loan because he can’t speak English 🤔🤔

        1. Easy for you to say!! A 19 year old lad lost his mum and he’s trying to let the pains go you think its that easy? I bet you don’t know what he’s going through right now are you gonna force him to play when he is not ready? If he makes a single mistake you all are gonna assemble here and call him a flop same applies to other fans out there who have no Idea what he’s going through at the momet,besides not all fans knew he lost his mum so put it at the back of your mind that the young lad needs to settle and allow the pains go before he can give the best to the team.

      3. “Why cant … we all cheer and support him even when he makes mistakes?”

        Nice sentiment but not exactly a strength of Arsenal fans…

    1. Let me remind you.

      One thing is that I’ve never been wrong in my analysis.

      I’ve previously said Luiz and Mari are the players that suit our “playing out from the back” system. These others are just too slow thinking and not comfortable with the ball.

      Luiz is already being selected ahead of Gabriel. I’ll remind you people when Mari comes back.

      1. Well Herbz, you are wrong in this case, we have played 3 games with Gabriel and won all the 3 with 2 clean sheets, what else do you expect from him, whether you like it or not Gabriel will be our engine room to qualify for top 4 this season, sometimes I don’t understand some of you guys called fans, are you saying that we should stick with our defenders that conceded several goals last season with just +8 goals difference, worst record in arsenal so far….. I don’t think you are Arsenal fan at all….

      2. Well well well

        Blow your own trumpet much?

        Also you should add Mustafi and CC as both are better at playing out from the back than Holding and Luiz.

        No one has seen enough of Mari to pass judgement

      3. ‘One thing is that I’ve never been wrong in my analysis’.
        And who is there to check the authenticity of your claim but you yourself? Also most people in a fan forum like this disagree with your analysis and most of the times, your theory that Kola is our best lb/lwb and among our best defenders has been proven wrong.
        SO, MY FRIEND, HOW CAN YOU SAY, WITHOUT PROOF, THAT YOUR ANALYSIS HAS NEVER BEEN WRONG?🤔🤔

  8. Take the Arsenal shirt off and WS
    is a 19 year old kid trying to make
    sense of an overwhelming life
    situation. In the last few months
    he tragically lost his mom, moved
    to one of the worlds busiest cities
    (DOESN’T SPEAK ENGLISH), and
    walked into a struggling club
    with fans expecting o be the next
    great Arsenal CB.

    How many of you Arsenal fans
    out there might freaking out just
    a little if your were walking in
    Williams boots.

    If WS and MA feel a season back
    home amongst family, learning
    English and featuring regularly
    for a CL side is necessary to ensure
    his future success in NL than I’m
    all for this decision.

  9. My point is if we had bought an “exceptional” player like Upamecano or Ben White, that would justify our efforts of wanting to reinforce the defence.

    If the same defenders that people were slating are now the ones being chosen (Luiz, Kolasinac, Holding) and are doing excellently, what does that mean???

    People at the club don’t have clear priorities.

    Let me leave the rest to English speaking, literature teachers on this platform.

    1. Were arsenal fired transfer negotiators in commission scheme alliance with players agents? The money spent does not equate to
      correct decisions on players. some deals seam to have been pushed through.

    2. Herbz, sorry to say but you don’t really have point at all, what is so special about upamecano and white, did they win league for their club or won champions league? I will rate and choose Gabriel any time any day more than these two…. Mind you Saliba and Upamecano played together in their youth team and Saliba was rated ahead of him,also I have been following Gabriel for like a season now before Arsenal went for him and I was like can Arsenal signed this guy, the way he tack, study the opponent and never feel shy to put in his body into any shot and you are here telling me that upamecano or one over rated player called white are better …… When we start reaping the seed of both Saliba and Gabriel and our opponents are becoming jealous of us, then you will accept that we have gotten some good or even better gem..

      1. No point whatsoever.

        What had Van Dijk done or achieved at Southampton.

        People could only clearly see his exceptional talent.

  10. Well said ACE.Apart from the personal issues you mention,historically, centre backs tend to find their feet later than promising young wingers for example.Very few under the age of 21 have become fixtures in the better international sides.They tend to mature into what is an immensely physical position,later in their careers.

  11. Seems some fans can’t understand what a difficult time is. Privileged lifestyle maybe? Remember MA didn’t sign the lad. He is doing what he can with what he has.

  12. Sorry for annoying anyone on this platform.

    I just believe am more passionate for Arsenal to get back to where we belong.

    No one becomes great just by speaking and doing things nicely.
    These (easing players) are some of the club practices that make most fans have that self pity; they have to be removed by force.

    Play your most expensive and best players.

    1. OK so you say play the most expensive

      against the blades this weekend we’re playing the following

      Leno
      Soares – Sokratis – Gabriel – KT
      Cebellos- Xaka
      Ozil
      Pepe – Laca – Auba

      Thats our most expensive line up

      you are the ultimate armchair fan, I’ll give you that.

      what did VVD do at Southampton? nothing

      He did it at Celtic, Southampton took the risk in bringing him to the EPL, it worked for them as he was a big fish in a small team.

      You obviously havent grasped the fact that the EPL is one of the toughest leagues in the world, if not the most.
      I can list alot of managers ( past and present ) that dont rush new signings into starting matches right away.

      Fergie
      AW
      Mourinho
      MA
      Roy Hodgson
      Conte
      Pep
      Klopp

      I can go on more if you like.

      We dont know how Gabriel’s body reacted to playing EPL games after not playing ANY football for 6 months, this is what the coaching staff and medical team judge.
      We play a totally different style than Lille, so he needs time to adapt.
      Communication is also an issue and its more of an issue in defence. The only players we have fit ( at CB ) right now that can speak with him on the pitch fluently are Soares and Luiz

      1. Talk about people making wild statements.

        Ok, for all those coaches you’ve mentioned, please list at least 1 expensive player each decided to bench for more than 3 matches because of wanting to ease them into a system.

        And mind you, is Saliba the only player this has happened to???
        Torreira, Mavropanos, Mkitaryan, all have passed through the same. Where have they ended up?

        1. I agree with your points. Some arsenal fans believe that the coach is always right and refuse to admit the truth staring them in the face. It’s clear Arteta does not fancy Salina for whatever reason.

        2. Herbz here’s one for ya, Wenger didn’t throw Pires straight into the team or Bergkamp both were expensive & both were eased in to get used to the speed of the EPL even Klopp didn’t play Robertson for 6 months while he got fitter & got used to the system, wise managers, actually manage the squad not just throw them in straight away

        3. To be honest, you’re not really worth the reply but here’s a few –

          Fergie – Diego Forlan
          Klopp – Ox
          AW – Pires, Vieira, Sanchez, Rosicky
          Pep – Mendy

          Just because a player is signed for silly money doesn’t mean they fit right in, straight away.

          You obviously haven’t read a single thing from other posts about what Saliba has endured the past year and you are off your rocker.

          You said Gabriel is playing a bit part.. funny how he has only been benched for 1 game since he’s been here and only had 1 session with the team before the fulham game which was his first game since March.

          Fulham – started
          West ham – Started
          Liverpool – bench
          Liverpool – Started

          Thats not a bit part player, thats just rotation.

          @deano, Bergkamp was signed by Rioch but yes you are right he didnt play for 4 weeks or so once he arrived.

  13. We are struggling to shift players off the books, especially center backs. Saliba being loaned would be a matter of circumstance, it would be easier to loan him out to get a player off the books rather than others we can’t shift. Finances and bad deals are starting to squeeze badly now and can only get worse. Our squad is bloated and embarrassing our financial situation. If we could have shifted more deadwood CBs Saliba would be staying.

  14. Hopefully this is bulshit, I can’t believe after waiting for all of last season just to see Saliba in Red & White of Arsenal he’s loaned out again 💔💔😭

  15. Go back to France if he needs to, but can someone please remind him to start learning English this time. After all, Rennes is such a conducive place to pick up English

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