Newcastle and Southampton are two of several clubs linked to 20-year-old Arsenal center-back William Saliba, who could be sold by the Gunners this summer as part of a squad.
Saliba joined Arsenal with much fanfare in the summer of 2019. He was still just a teenager with valuable little first team experience at the time, but the Gunners saw enough long-term potential to commit to a deal worth up to £ 30 million.
Things have not really worked out as planned for Saliba and he has not yet played a first team game for Arsenal. Hungary spent its first season after signing back on loan at Saint-Etienne, but it turned out to be an injury campaign that led to disagreements between clubs over his condition.
Saliba was appointed to the bench when Arsenal played Liverpool in Community Shield 2020, suggesting he could have played a significant role in the first team in the coming season. But he never got into a match day team in the Premier League and his only Arsenal matches during the first half of the 2020/21 season were for the club’s U23 side.
Saliba spent the second half of last season on loan at Nice / Eurasia Sport Images / Getty Images
At that time, he returned to France to join Nice on loan and played virtually every match.
But with Arsenal wanting to bring in many new players all over the pitch this summer, Saliba could be one of those sacrificed to make room and raise money.
According to Footmercato, Newcastle and Southampton are showing interest in Saliba from the Premier League. But there is interest from Germany in the form of Bayer Leverkusen, while Nice, Marseille, Rennes and new champions Lille are keen to keep him in France. Nameless Italian clubs are also said to be keeping an eye on the situation.
Player sales and other departures will be an important part of Arsenal’s operations this summer. 90 minutes recently revealed that the Gunners could spend close to £ 250 million on new players in key positions across the pitch to provide Mikel Arteta with a squad that can climb back up the Premier League table and return to the Champions League.
Arsenal are close to signing Ben White as part of a big summer recruitment drive / Mike Hewitt / Getty Images
Arsenal are initially focusing their search on a new goalkeeper, center-back, full-back and two central midfielders, with Brighton defender Ben White looking to be the first major summer acquisition of a £ 50m deal.
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