Matteo Guendouzi has said that he will ‘keep pushing’ for Arsenal teammate William Saliba to stay at Marseille next season amid doubt over his future at the Emirates Stadium.
The French duo both spent a successful loan spell at the Orange Velodrome last term, the defender in particular catching the eye throughout the campaign. He was named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year, whilst also earning the Young Player of the Year award.
Meanwhile, Guendouzi himself also impressed and earned a permanent switch to Marseille at the end of the season - the French giants retaining an option to secure his services. Despite Saliba’s impressive form, there is doubt that he will be playing a role in the Arsenal first-team next term.
Boss Mikel Arteta appears to have settled on his first-choice defensive duo in the form of Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes. In the meantime, Saliba has just two years remaining on his contract at the Emirates Stadium so it remains to be seen whether he is finally able to make his breakthrough in north London having been an Arsenal player since 2019.
“Amid that doubt, Guendouzi has claimed that he is aiming to intervene to keep Saliba at Marseille - the French side reportedly interested in keeping him in France. Speaking to TF1, he said: “William [Saliba] now has Marseille in his heart.
“I’m sure that he’ll come back to Marseille next season. I’m going to keep pushing so that he stays with us.”
Should William Saliba be given an opportunity at Arsenal next season? Have your say in the comments below.
Whilst Guendouzi has not hidden his aspirations of being reunited with Saliba at Marseille, it appears that Arteta has already made his decision on the defender’s role in north London next season. The Spaniard has already expressed his desire to have him back at the Emirates Stadium ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
Speaking with RMC Sport: “He has to come back. He has the experience and the necessary environment to be competitive with us.
“If he had stayed with us this year, with one Premier League game a week and with Ben White and Gabriel, he wouldn’t have had half the game time he had with Marseille, that’s for sure.
“In terms of his growth and what he could do next year it wouldn’t have been good. William wasn’t with us because he wouldn’t have had the playing time required to gain experience. That’s it, nothing else.”
Should Saliba be handed the opportunity to play for Arsenal, he could potentially be handed his Gunners debut. He originally signed for the club in a big-money move from Saint-Etienne back three years ago.
The now 21-year-old was allowed to rejoin his former club on loan, whilst he has then had spells with OGC Nice and of course Marseille since then.
