Arsenal continues to pay a price for Mikel Arteta being unable to man manage certain players and that scenario could come about once again.
Arteta fell out with Matteo Guendouzi and he is doing great out on loan at Marseille, he fell out with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who is now scoring for fun at Barcelona and now he seems to have a problem with William Saliba, well, he seemed to lack trust in him to perform in the Premier League.
Guendouzi will probably stay put in France and Aubameyang is history but Saliba is expected to return in the summer and hopefully have a role to play next season.
However, according to Get Football News France, Spanish giants Atletico Madrid want to sign the French international for £30m.
Of course, Arteta can refuse to allow him to leave but if Saliba makes it clear he does not want to return and would rather play for a team with far more chance of silverware and Champions League football then Arsenal’s hand may be forced.
Saliba could easily refuse to extend his contract and the idea that we then lose a player for free when his contract expires who we never played would be highly embarrassing.
If Atletico really does want the 21-year-old and will pay £30m then it is hard to see Arsenal having any other option than selling.
This is a mess and one that could and should have been avoided.
It wouldn’t really surprise me with our contract management we will probably not sell now for 30 but next year for 8 mil. We really need to stop all this selling players for peanuts next up Pepe 10 m
I think the majority of fans and including on JA can see now the mess and messes that are and have been made. And are losing patience with Arteta. A shame but the experiment looks doomed to fail.
👍 A football manager’s job is to get the most from the player assets available to him. Arteta appears to have a problem with too many players.
Terribly miss manage, a keep saying this one one is going nowhere soon.
All efforts should focus on renewing this kid contract,
Edu has failed us miserable in this department
This is not a problem at all.
Right now we have no problems at CB.
White Gabriel and Holding are just fine and Tomiyasu can play CB.
The Saliba issue is a win/win situation.
If Saliba comes back it is a win.
If he does another year at Marseilles gaining experience and comes back its a win because he is contracted to us till 2024.
If he gets sold for 30mill which we would easily get its a win.
We simply can not lose.
BTW Aubameyang was not scoring for fun last week when Barca lost at home to relegation team Cadiz nor did he score when Barca were embarrasingly knocked out at home to Frankfurt in the EL quarters.
What a difference a change in scenery makes, Auba is certainly a win win with he going to Barcelona.
I sincerely Hope’s the goals dont dry up.
If Arsenal were to sell Saliba in the summer that cant be a win win, that would be breaking even, but my wife would see that as a lost.
The kid will be a marquee defender in another season and if Man u can pay £80 mil for a certain defender, just seriously watch his value playing in the UK.
We are not desperate for center back, so we could give him a five year contract and allow him to remain in France while his value soar
We are not desperate for a Center back? Yes agree, if we aren’t desperate for top 4. White has been very underwhelming, he seems to have gone into a shell and Gabriel as much as i like him is prone to Brain farts. Holding is not in Artetas plans (which Holding has done nothing worse than the other two) and then we are down too Xhaka and Tierney filling in. We need Two Center Backs at least.
Comedian! 😄
He’s coming back but White has been impressive and could be moved forward but Saliba is returning, trust me.
Reggie am not concerned about our defensive side so much,
This is one of the gaffer strong area, am convinced he can make his team very difficult to play against when he works at it.
I can see Ben White looking like a genuine marquee defender next year under the gaffer
So getting his back four solid is not the problem,its the transition to attack he is struggling with
Now that is why I would approve the war chest of over £180mil for him to strengthen the spine and attack
We are far from solid and letting in no less goals than previous seasons. We have stopped keeping clean sheets and very often flatter to deceive. We have had a fair few hammerings this season, i dont agree, there isn’t a problem.
The number of losses ad goals against thus far this season are not indicative of a sound defense!
If that kid walks, he is going to be top class, then everyone up top needs to turn in their resignations immediately.
Currently, Arsenal do not have a major problem in defence if everyone is fit.
Saliba would be a good addition to the current team. I agree with FF above.
Holding is not as good as BW or Gab He is generally sound as a defender but is below the other two in the rest of his game.
I disagree that this is a “mess”. Ideally, he would have continued his development here however he is unlikely to have had the opportunities he has had given the acquisition of BW. In my view, it was a reasonable decision to let him go on loan in the circumstances.
Oh dear! Defensively, what has changed from last season? At the same time someone with Saliba’s potential is worth at least as much as Ben White, so I don’t see him being offloaded so cheaply, unless the club is in the hands of total incompetents.