Arsenal have reportedly made a contingency plan to replace William Saliba this summer amid claims he is not keen on signing a new contract at the Emirates Stadium.
The Frenchman, who impressed out on loan in Ligue 1 with Marseille, is reportedly not wanting to extend his contract in north London despite returning to pre-season with Mikel Arteta’s side. It is claimed that Marseille, where Saliba excelled last term, are monitoring the defender’s future.
While Saliba has two years left on his contract with the Gunners, he is yet to play a first-team game since joining the club from Saint-Etienne in 2019 in a deal worth up to £27million including add-ons.
Reports (via Get French Football News ) claim that Saliba has no intentions of extending his contract at the Emirates at present, leaving his long-term future with the club up in the air.
That could lead to Arsenal turning their attentions to signing a new long-term centre-back in place of Saliba this summer and are one of a number of Premier League clubs who have been credited with interest in signing Chelsea prospect Levi Colwill this summer.
The Daily Mail have reported that should Chelsea look to sell the 19-year-old centre-back this summer, the Gunners are one of five Premier League clubs interested in potentially signing the former Huddersfield Town loanee, with Leicester City, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Everton also keen.
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Colwill impressed out on loan with the Terriers last season and helped the Yorkshire side, then managed by Carlos Corberan, to reach the final of the Championship play-off final, only to lose to Nottingham Forest 1-0 at Wembley Stadium.
It was the defender’s first taste of senior football, but with his parent club Chelsea hoping to land the triple centre-back acquisition of Kalidou Koulibaly, Nathan Ake and Presnel Kimpembe this summer from Napoli, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain respectively, Colwill’s chances of first-team minutes at Stamford Bridge next season look slim, suggesting a potential summer exit could be on the cards.
The Southampton-born teenager scored twice in 29 Championship games for Huddersfield last season, scoring two goals. Earlier this year, the defender won his first two caps for England at under-21s level, having previously played a combined 15 times for the Three Lions at youth level prior to his debut for Lee Carsley’s side earlier this year.
Leicester are said to be big admirers of the young Chelsea defenders and the Foxes are reportedly keen on selling Jannik Vestergaard this summer, a move that could allow Brendan Rodgers’ side to free up funds to put towards landing a deal for Colwill.
Palace are also keen reportedly keen on a potential move to add back-up to Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi, with Palace signing Guehi last summer from the Blues after he, like Colwill, had no clear path to the first team.
An exit for Colwill would see him end an 11-year association with Chelsea, first joining the 2020/21 Champions League winners at under-9 level in 2011.
