William Saliba has had a few bad breaks.
The defender was signed by Arsenal last summer but he has yet to actually play for the club.
While he has made two appearances for the U23s, he has not been included in any of Mikel Arteta’s senior squads in the Premier League.
He spent last season on loan at Saint-Etienne in a spell that was ravaged by injury, and he could well have returned this summer.
However, the deal hit a late hitch and was not completed, to the bemusement of the 19-year-old.
Saliba was, after all, a key member of the French club’s squad last season after his recovery from injury, playing in all of their final seven Ligue 1 games.
And it now appears that he could return in January.
Sport Witness carries a report from But! Football Club, claiming that Saliba is growing “fed up” at the Gunners and wants a move in the upcoming transfer window.
He turned down a move to the Championship in a bid to eventually return to France, and Saint Etienne are just as interested in the prospect of bringing him back.
The deal seems to be an easy one to do once the window is flung open; this is certainly one to keep an eye on.
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
This feels like a bit of a shame.
Saliba is clearly a talented defender, given that the Gunners splashed £27m to secure the 19-year-old’s signature.
But he simply hasn’t been given a chance under the current Gunners regime and now seems to be desperate to leave.
That’s a tragedy, really, and one has to ask questions about the management of Arteta when it comes to young players like Saliba.
The door to the first-team seems to be closed; it’s no wonder he’s desperate to go back to a club where he can actually play some football.