The future of Arsenal defender William Saliba remains a passionate topic of discussion among many supporters. Despite being signed by Unai Emery three seasons ago, the highly-rated youngster is yet to make an appearance for the Gunners.
Instead, he has been sent out on loan three times. First, he was sent back to Saint-Etienne as part of the agreement that saw him move to north London before arriving in Nice for the following campaign. Now, he finds himself at the Stade Velodrome playing under Jorge Sampaoli and seemingly going from strength to strength.
Saliba even earned his first call up to the French national team in March once again triggering calls for Mikel Arteta to give him his chance in the Arsenal first-team next season. But throughout the season, the 20-year-old has hinted that he would be happy to stay in France.
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"I’ve never hidden the fact that I feel good here. I don’t know what my future holds, there’s still two months to go," Saliba told RMC Sport, via The Mirror after the latest international break. "The most important thing is to qualify for the Champions League and go as far as possible in the Conference League.
"I think discussions will take place afterwards, at the end of May to early June, between Arsenal and Marseille – we’ll decide at that point. "But staying on here would definitely not be a bad idea, on the contrary, I know the city, my teammates, my manager. But it doesn’t depend on me."
However, a report from TEAMtalk this week suggested that Saliba was in fact eager to return to the Emirates at the end of the season to fight with Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes for a place in the Arsenal defence. It would offer Arteta an enviable wealth of options at the back for the 2022/23 campaign.
It would mean that Saliba and Matteo Guendouzi are in fact set for different paths, however. Guendouzi also moved to Marseille on loan in the summer. At the end of November, he revealed that he has no intention of returning to Arsenal and intends to stay with his current side for the foreseeable.
"I’m on loan and still linked to Arsenal but I am focused on what I have to do with Marseille," said Guendouzi. "I want to be part of the long term with Marseille. I’m very comfortable there, I want to continue to enjoy myself at Marseille."
