Saliba out of Olympics squad – Should he stay with Arsenal?

Saliba pulls out of France’s Olympics squad

William Saliba has pulled his name out of the French Olympic games squad. The 20-year-old was due to head to Tokyo this month with the likes of Rennes’ Eduardo Camavinga, Tigres’ Florian Thauvin and co.

It is still unknown as to whether Arsenal blocked the move or he did not have any plans to go or any other reason, but in a statement this afternoon, the French Football Federation said, “Following the refusal of several clubs to release their players initially selected with the French Olympic football team, coach Sylvain Ripoll has unveiled a list with eleven new players.”


However, reports have already emerged that Arsenal would look to loan him out for another season to continue his development. Whether there is any concrete base on such reports is still to be known.

Saliba’s agent met Arsenal’s technical director Edu this week to discuss the future of his client. It is within the realms of imagination that those talks laid the foundation of Saliba not going to Tokyo.

Selling the former St. Etienne man would be very frustrating for fans, as he has not been handed a single opportunity by the club since his big money move in 2019.

https://twitter.com/ChrisWheatley_/status/1399399743265120257

Since he started his career in the men’s game in 2018/19, there has not been a single campaign where the young defender has looked out of his depths.

He’s had three impressive seasons at Ligue 1, and many believe now it’s time to hand him minutes at the Emirates Stadium. If the Gunners are hell-bent on loaning him out, spending another season in France does not look ideal.

Rather, he should be make a temporary move to an English Premier League side so that Arsenal, as well as the supporters, can have a better look at their prodigal defender in arguably one of the best leagues in the world.

The 20-year-old has already rejected a possible loan switch to Rennes,’ which partially proves that the Frenchman has ruled out the possibility of moving to France again.

Rejecting Rennes’ advances and now pulling out of the Olympic squad. It feels like the stars are gradually aligning in a way that Arsenal fans would have wanted.

 Yash Bisht

Tags Olympics Saliba

58 Comments

  1. Somebody gotta be left out to make way for a FAT TWO YEAR CONTRACT SEEKING SERGIO RAMOS to be paired with “THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WITH ARSENAL” WILLIAN.

    Bon voyage, Saliba. See ya next season.

    COYG!!!

  2. Lol so funny that every poster ignores the update that Saliba waited out for Rennes last season while Rennes pursued Rugani silently, hence Saliba’s removal from the premier League and Europa League squad. But no, Arteta is to blame for even the sun rising.😂😂😂😂😂

    1. I was about to bring this up. Last season we all thought it was the club’s indecisiveness that left him out, but turns out he caused it himself by insisting he’s waiting to sign for Rennes. Rejected every other offer, and Rennes went for another defender. This is why he has rejected Rennes this summer, because of what they did to him last season.
      Everything is out there on the GFFN news site. No other news site comes close to L’Equipe and GFFN.
      Yet fans keep pretending it’s the club moving him around.

      Let’s get the facts right.

      His first loan was outlet based on an agreement we had to sign him. Has nothing to do with this regime.

      His second loan was what he wanted and decided Arsenal but decided to wait for the wrong club while time passes.

      His third loan now is reportedly all down to Arteta’s decision.
      Fans will blame Arteta if another staff of Arsenal were to get the covid virus. Everything is Terta and Edu’s fault

      1. Well it is their fault Eddie as they are in charge of day to day running of the club ,if rumours are true that he’s going out on loan again then it’s obvious that Arteta as a problem with the lad ,how on earth can he not find a squad place for him this season is beyond me ,he’s been getting rave reviews for the last 3 seasons and here we are trying to sign Ben white for 50 million.
        Arteta is payed to manage the players maybe he should start doing just that and maybe just maybe we will do better than 8th position this season .

        1. Dan I do want to see Saliba play also. I want to see what the hyoe I all about, and I want to see it in the EPL.
          It’s baffling why he needs to go on another loan, Arteta has to give a good reason for this third one. What I’ve been saying is why are folks blaming Arteta for Saliba going out on loan twice before?
          Personally I don’t get why Saliba prefers french clubs when he could just accept one of the clubs in England and just convince the full squad and even English media, thereby making things hard for Arteta. I find this whole debacle, Arteta’s decisions and Saliba’s decision baffling though, but I don’t know what they discussed so I’m just watching as it unfolds

        2. Agree Dan, there absolutely no reason at all that Saliba hasn’t played for Arsenal at all before now or next season. He is young and very experienced, he is rated very very highly, he was the dominant defender in the partnership with Fofanna and he has played a season in the prem for a team better than ours. Poor poor treatment and cant be defended.

        3. Don’t spin this Dan,not talking about the current loan report, talking about the previous one and y u regular posters ignore it when it appears Saliba caused it himself

          1. Baba, if I remember correctly, didnt MA say he made a mistake by not including Saliba in his squad?
            So, if the man himself is saying it, what is the argument about?

      2. YES, THE WEATHER, GLOBAL WARTMING, WARS, COVID AND ALL THE OTHER ILLS IN THE ENTIRE PLANET ARE ALL THE FAULT OF THAT “MONSTER” MA AND EDU. And there was poor, naive, me thinking he was just the unfairly underfire manager of our club.

        But it must all be true, as countless intellectual giants like Dan Kit, HH, Sean, Logic and many other Gooners say so almost daily.

        Oh and my boilers broken down and my cat is unwell, so it MUST be that arch villain Artetas fault. No other possible reason!

        1. Actually Jon, my boiler broke down as well, but as it is 38 degrees over here in Spain I havent noticed much!

          But yes, my mate Arteta said he’d come and fix it and he hasn’t turned up. …..

          1. Damned plumbers moonlighting as part time Prem fooball managers, eh Pat! I mean, who does that bl..dy Arteta think he is; wasting his time managing a football club when there are broken boilers out there to fix!
            Clearly a hanging offence, as my good friends SeanW, dan kit, HH, Logic etc. etc will surely agree! Thank God they are all so fairminded, eh PAT!

          2. Admin Pat, a moderately hot day, you need to toughen up. Wait until you have 9 or 10 in a row!

        2. @Jon Fox, you are very funny. lol.
          But I once heard Saliba saying that Arteta told him he wasn’t ready to play for the first team.
          Saliba needs to be humble and focused.

          We should try and get Raheem sterling if Man City get both Kane and Grealish. Arteta should try and persuade Sterling.

    2. Rennes on a season-long loan, as he wasn’t part of the plans, not his fault they screwed him over. Surely you have a say in where you go on loan??

      1. Agree Sue but why do people think Rennes screwed him over when Arsenal should have been giving him a chance and not loaning. REDICULOUS! GET HIM IN THE SQUAD AND GIVE HIM A GO!

        1. I don’t understand why a teenager who is contracted to arsenal should be the one dictating what is happening.
          I believe that if arsenal want him to stay in England all they would do is just show him the list of English clubs and ask him if he had a preference among those clubs interested
          I don’t understand what you guys are saying is Saliba arsenal player or is arsenal contracted to Saliba that he makes choice for them
          At worst what arsenal would be doing is convincing him why a certain club is best for his development and move him there

          1. I don’t understand why, as reported, the best centre back in the French league this season, has not been included in their squad!!!
            After all, they got knocked out of the euros without him!!!

            It is a mystery to me why Saliba cannot get playing time, especially when MA himself said he made a mistake when he left him out of the squad last season.
            Still, at the end of the day, Mikel will be judged by results and Saliba by his performances wherever that may be.

            I have to smile at certain posters who are complaining that poor old MA is getting blamed for everything…. when the self same posters were doing exactly that, with regards to our previous two managers.

          2. 👍 Ken, maybe Brendan Rogers will put in a cheeky bid to play him alongside that other “inexperienced” CB Fofana at Leicester City? Last time I checked they finished higher than Arsenal.

    3. @Baba Sagna, again did Saliba call you and told you or are you one of his mates? First it was to protect him then it was to give him some experience now it is all Saliba’s doing. I don’t know when ppl like you will stop defending Arteta with these ridiculous excuses. Arteta’s handling of all the young players from academy or brought from out side shows he has no clue how to manage young players and well we have seen the results last season as well which indicates neither does he have a clue about tactics. Keep praising and supporting the wonderful Arteta until our club is in championship even then ppl like you will make an excuse that what’s the point of participating in a league which you can not win so it’s good Arteta has brought Arsenal down to championship atleast we have a chance to win that 🤣😂

      1. Logic my friend,it appears your hated for Arteta has now made you lose all Logic..my comment was to why the regular posters on this site refused to make an article about the revelation gffn gave, well your illogical comment is not my business as we’ve not even won the league since 2004. But no it’s also Arteta’s fault 😂😂😂 exactly what my comment is about 😉😉😉

        1. If there is any thing that isn’t a rumour and reliable, it is Arteta’s and Saliba’s comments.
          You can also go and dig out what ever rumours you like that suits your agenda

          From what you guys are saying it means that arsenal should be ashamed of themselves that a teenager who is contracted to them is telling the club what and what not to do

          1. Uncle Pepe,,I only pointed out that since the regular posters here all based their outrage on the lies they’ve been fed by GFFN, y can’t they also say something wen GFFN are indirectly admitting that they lied? Double standards? I don’t want any enemy here just as some have taken themselves to be, that’s y I comment less. But I’m just surprised no one said a thing after GFFN revealed things, do u care to tell me why?

  3. No. No. BABA you got it wrong. Arteta will be blamed for the sun setting on Arsenal and the future players that he brush with.

    1. No no Harold,,, only that you didn’t realize that the sun had been setting on arsenal since 2008… And it’s all Arteta’s fault too 😂😂😂😂😂😂

      1. Baba Sagna
        Double standard if you can’t defend all poster blaming Webger for what is still going on at Arsenal.

        Arsenal gave Ozil huge contract… Blame Wenger
        They gave Auba huge contract… Blame Wenger cos he signed him
        They signed Willian on huge contract… Blame Wenger cos he started it.
        They signed late in the transfer window… Blame Wenger cos he also does that.

        I don’t see you defending that against the poster boys.
        Does that show your dying love for Arteta.

        Double standard my friend.

        1. Chief Bobs, I don’t remember me slating Arsene, I only said Arsenal has been sinking since 2008. Unless you want to say I’m wrong and we’ve been doing alright since then? So if u need someone to hit up with the poison going around in this site, I don’t think I’m the best candidate for that, that’s y I don’t comment too much here. I’ll rather ignore instead of getting into biased arguements on here..so …😂😂😂😂😂😂

          1. 👍 Baba, exactly right, once David Dein was forced out of the Club the positive partnership with Arsene Wenger was broken up.

  4. Does it mean Saliba refused Marseille loan and chose to stay at Arsenal?

    Saliba might not have Bonucci’s, Luiz’s and White’s long passing skills, but I believe Arteta and the coaches can train him to reach that level

  5. Always coming up with half cock stories and articles Yash. You are aware he rejected Rennes because of how he was treated last season right? You left that part out on purpose or you had no idea?
    It’s on the GFFN site

      1. Agreed, I’m still not sure what is the point of bad-mouthing Fabregas in relation to this article.

        Maybe Havyn is an angel and doesn’t live in a glass house?

  6. Its going to be a full season loan somewhere

    Arteta has said it again and again,that Saliba needs a full season,uninterupted,on loan.If he had accepted to go to the Olympics,that would have hampered the chance of having a full season of games.

    I beleive thats the plan

    1. Hahaha looks like it Sue, since Wenger left we are always in transition and with the ppl running the club i think they have marked 10 years after Wenger as transition period 😂 so that includes all the players as well who are in transition even some fans are in transition as well lol!

  7. I think he will be given a chance this season. The loan reports might just be rumours. Let’s wait and see…

  8. Arsenal’s or specifically, bloody Arteta’s, treatment of Saliba has been a disgrace

  9. Arsenal denied him to featured in final cup game in France, now they have denied him another appearance for his country. Hmm, l am waiting for the next denials. What a shame!

  10. I simply don’t have any hope of things getting better when the same people who failed have been given charge again to mount some sort of recovery. Well we want to be different and not like Chelsea so keep Arteta n Edu till there contract expires then sign another avg or below avg cheap manager with his team then again respect his contract that’s how you become a small club who has no say in any important trophies of the season. Now slowly slowly fans are buying this philosophy from owner which leaves owner not even have to answer for how this club is run as some fans are doing this for him, asking other fans to be patient, don’t aim high and stop asking questions about failures so in simple words be mid table team who just are happy to beat the big boys once in a while.

    1. At logic
      I think you should also recognize that some posters are paid hence you will see them every day like an agenda.

      1. Eh? Do what???
        If some readers are being paid can you let me know who’s paying him.
        Oh yeah, we have over 500 comments every day and you seriously think I need to pay for them?
        Give yourself a break, eh?

        1. People in high positions have PR teams who employ people to go on social media and counter arguments. This have nothing to do with you Mr admin. Politician do this a lot.

          1. Not on Just Arsenal mate.
            I do this because I love to talk about Arsenal all day, and lucky for me i DO get paid for it.
            But I don’t leave very many comments I’m afraid as I am too busy either writing or living the dream…..

            Anyone who comes and comments on here is (for me) a compliment, because it means I am doing a good job.

      2. Haha mate, strangely enough I just had a look and you have written 663 comments on JA.

        Are you being paid I wonder!!!

          1. We are all fans of this club. And a times, we do have divergent views. For me, I don’t want us to sign Ben White. Even if he is the best defender in the world. I believe we should rather sign a top quality attacker like Raheem Sterling. Our defence is sorted. We have Saliba, Mari, Holding and Gabriel. These 4 players are enough in defence. Chambers can also play there. Tierney can also play in a back 3 if needed.
            What we need is more attacking players who can shoot and dribble.
            We should get both Aoaur and Sterling.

          2. Im getting paid to post by the KGB, im a multimillionaire and thanks to Russia, i dont have to worry about anything. As long as i keep posting on JA im made! But please dont tell anyone.

  11. He should have been loaned out to an EPL club in the first place to gain experience in OUR league. I think there is another agenda here, something behind the scenes is going on which will come to light soon enough.

  12. He has withdrawn because Marseille want him on loan. They are also taking Guendozi permanently.

    According to Ormstein.

    1. Arsenal have accepted a €1m loan with €11m obligation to buy offer from Marseille for Mattéo Guendouzi.

  13. All I want to say is, “if Saliba eventually gets sold, Arteta should just pack bags and leave this club too.”

    1. I will counter that offer by saying Arteta should pack his bags whether or not saliba gets sold

      1. Right I’ve had enough!
        You are more boring than a broken record. You will be moderated until you start writing sensible comments, if you are even capable…

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