St. Etienne request return of Saliba on loan with the player keen

Arsenal fans are yet to see William Saliba in a competitive match, despite the young Frenchman being touted as the answer to the Gunners defensve problems alongside Gabriel Magalhaes.

We all know that he has had upheavals in his life this year (haven’t we all!), but it can’t have helped that he has left his childhood home and come to a new club and country, and then finds out that his new boss doesn’t even trust him enough to give him a squad number.

It is no secret that St. Etienne tried to broker another loan deal with Arsenal in the summer, and it seems that they have now asked Arteta to let Saliba return to France for thesecond half of the season, with the winter transfer window just 5 weeks ago.

According to foot-sur7 in France, the loan request has been made, and Saliba himself is also very keen on the idea. They reported: “The general manager of the Loire club requested the loan of the young center-back from Arsenal. Pending the Gunners’ response, the encrypted channel announces news that should delight AS Saint-Étienne. According to the media, the 19-year-old is willing to make a financial sacrifice, in order to give himself the means to return to the Greens. His goal is to find playing time in Ligue 1. The source evokes a possible drop in his salary up to 100,000 euros per month to make life easier at ASSE. The finances of Stéphanois are hard hit by the coronavirus crisis. Therefore, they do not have the means to recruit top players or guarantee a colossal salary to a new player.”

You can understand the desperation of St Etienne, considering they are on a run of 8 straight defeats, and are currently just two above the relegation zone. But can you see Mikel Arteta agreeing to let him go on loan again considering our dearth of fit central defenders?

Tags Saliba St Etienne

11 Comments

  1. If we not going to play him, he should be allowed to go on loan.

    My concern is that with everything that’s happened the player might have a ‘bad taste in his mouth’ regarding Arsenal now.

  2. Saliba cost Arsenal 27mill and sending him back to relegation bound Etienne would greatly lower his resale value where as a couple of good games for the Arsenal would double his resale value. Saliba has to adapt to life in England so going back to France won’t help. He can play for the U23’s and the Europa league. There is no hurry look at Chambers 28 Pepe 26 Holding 25 Maitland-Niles 23 Willock 21 while Saliba is still only 19.

    1. Very good point going back to France except for playing time would be counterproductive,he needs to stay in the UK and play be it with us or on loan!

  3. A mess.

    We can only conclude that M A considers Saliba to be nowhere near ready for premiership football, for whatever reason.

    But omitted from Europa league squad and not figuring in Carabao cup ???

    27m worth of player.

    Another frustration.

    1. Another misuse of resources. All reports had the lad among the very best prospects. Which is which? Fofana was not as lauded as Saliba, and yet he is featuring for Leicester. And people say it’s all Kroenke’s fault. In the last years since Wenger left Arsenal have signed Socratis, Torreira, Pepe, Guendouzi, and Saliba among others. That’s close to 150M in outlay. Yet only Pepe is being used somewhat sparingly and judging by his performances, I would not be surprised to see him sent packing. The rest have been sent on loan or not used at all! So long as we will have incompetent folks running the club, then we are going to struggle. Returning to Saliba, the mess should be squarely at Arteta’s doorstep. Under Wenger the Saliba situation would not arise. If the lad was emotionally fragile when he joined, then he needed a helping hand! To be thrust into the limelight for the wrong reason is hardly a template for development.

  4. I don’t see the point in sending him back to ASE.

    Loan him to Fulham or someone in the prem who are facing a relegation battle, he will gain more there.

    Or better still play him ahead of Holding, with Luiz and GM. He cant be any worse than what we currently have available

  5. Would love to know the full story here. Did we completely drop the ball in assessment (would join a long list over past few years)? Is he just not ready? Have the personal problems disrupted him? Sure seems like a waste so far…if he isn’t going to play then move him.

  6. The whole Saliba buisness has been a mess. I don’t know whose decision it was but to not even put him in the Europa Cup squad is a mystery and surely he could have featured in the cup games. I also don’t agree with him going back to France on loan, a loan to another club in this country would be better. I hope this doesn’t turn him against us.

  7. Arsenal defender William Saliba will join his former club AS Saint-Étienne in January for the reminder of the season.
    #AFC 🔴⚪ #StEtienne 🟢 (Transfer Exchange)

    Still amazed by this!!! Crazy….

    1. Do you know what Sue – I’m joining the “Risk & Reward” camp.

      As a club we seem to be constantly guilty of overthinking, and being overly cautious until it’s too late.

      Take a gamble here and there , you never know.

      I very much doubt the odd gamble will find us positioned any different from 6th to 8th (ish) anyway.

      The boy looked good in what little we did see of him pre-season, and I know tragically he lost both of his parents recently – but who knows getting him involved now may just bring him back up to what we thought we had signed.

      Mystified, baffled, frustrated.

      1. You’re not the only one, A J!! I still think it was crazy to leave him out of the EL squad. Surely he could’ve done a job against Dundalk or this lot tonight!! Well if he does end up back in France at least he’ll get minutes there… and then maybe next season we’ll be a step closer (🙏) to our dream CB pairing….. 😍

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