Arsenal have confirmed that William Saliba will spend the 2021/22 campaign on loan with Marseille.
The Stade Velodrome outfit beat off competition from a number of other Ligue 1 clubs to secure the 21-year-old’s signature after Arsenal decided the player still isn’t ready for life in the Premier League.
The move to the French Riviera is Saliba’s third loan since he was signed by Arsenal for £27 million in 2018. He initially returned to Saint-Etienne for a year and then spent the second half of last season at Nice.
Saliba is believed to have turned down the chance to represent France at the Tokyo Olympics to focus on sealing a move to Marseille.
Speaking about the decision, technical director Edu said: “Together with William, we have decided it will be good for his continued development to spend another season on loan. William joined us as an 18-year-old, and he is still only 20, so he is still developing all the time.
“William is a player with strong natural ability and next season has the potential to be really beneficial for him at Marseille, a good club. To play another season in Ligue 1 will be very important for his development. We will of course be keeping in close contact with William during the season and wish him all the best in France with Marseille.”
Good luck in the upcoming campaign! We look forward to welcoming you back next season
Good luck but I keep getting a sense of deja vu.
As long as this isn’t a Wellington or Pedro (I think that was his name. A LB that we sent around Spain like it was an Olympic torch.)
Wellington Silva, a two-footed right winger. He had work permit issues which was what kickstarted his Olympic experience. Poor dude spent six years on loan. He wasn’t cheap for an U18 player at the time either. £3.5 million back in 2010.
Unlike fellow journeymen, Miyaichi and Joel Campbell, he never played a single competitive game for us. Definitely see the parallels with Saliba’s situation.
Pedro Botelho
If he comes to us next season, and that’s a big if, he’ll have 2 years to run on his deal. So if he plays a half decent season we will be back in the same old position of having a player entering final year of his contract. I just cannot see the logic of this loan.
Christmas, Easter, Arsenal finish 8th, Saliba loan, Christmas, Easter, Arsenal finish 8th, Saliba loan, Christmas, Easter, Ars…..
Is this a definition of de ja Vu too?
When he’ll be into the last 2 years and has to be sold anyway.
He doesn’t necessarily need to be sold though does he? We could let him run down his contract and leave on a free.
30m on saliba.
20m on perez
35m on mustafi.
incoming 50m on ben white.
Don’t forget the three year 250k a week bargain that is Willian Borges Who Ate all the Pies da Silva. He should clock in at somewhere between 30-35 million by the time he’s finished his retirement with us.
I have no positive feeling whatsoever about Willian as an Arsenal player, but isn’t it pretty clear he’s wearing some something under his shirt in that fat photo? No one has love handles that angular
So he’s playing in a fat suit?
Willian is fat. He’s brazillian. He’s won muliple trophies over the years. He’s like the modern day brazillian ronaldo.
£6.50 pie from Piebury Corner in Highbury, £250,000/wk. That’s 38,461.5 pies per week. No wonder he’s fat!
At least Piebury Corner paid off his mortgage and some early.
The Arsenal Fish Bar love him.
“Morning Mr Willian. Your usual?
Suki!! Mr Willian want usual!! Extra portion of large cheesy chips and giant jar of gerkin.
One found dirty pants.
One found dirty pants.
ONE POUND THIRTY PENCE.”
Sorry but what on earth was that?
Or 30-35 stone.
And Edu had nothing to do with signing any of them
At last.
Someone else acknowledging that Edu does fuck all……
[Bracing myself for the inevitable last minute Ben White transfer collapse]
I assume you’ve written Saliba and White off as failures before they’ve even played.
I’ve written 30m off which we could have invested way better. No way are we in a position where we can spend that much money on a player and spend him on loan for 3 seasons !
Exactly that!
I believe by loaning him again and again, the objective is to recover most money and then sell him, maybe next year or after. I think, if management has trust in him, he would be with the first team squad in Scotland or maybe he doesn’t was to stay at Arsenal anymore. Let’s see how it unfolds but doesn’t arouse confidence for sure.
You make good points! I lean toward the idea that this loan to a French team is a sign he doesn’t want to stay with the club anymore. If the plan is for him to come back, a loan to an EPL side, or a lower English league side, would make more sense. As it is, this is a way to raise his sell value as much as possible. Arsenal is probably thinking, maybe next year clubs will have more money to spend. And if Saliba continues to do well, then we could recover a lot of the outlay. This… Read more »
If the objective was to recover most of the money, I reckon we’d want him to play in the olympics.
Only if we want to sell this year, I think. Else it would be better for him to skip, because remember he is shifting to a new team yet again.
I see a lot of people losing their sh*t about this
While it’s frustrating not having the chance to see him in Arsenal red yet, if he’s not ready then he’s not ready..Personally i’ve not seen enough of him to judge him, but the Premier League is a different beast to France..I’m more excited about Ben White joining and I’d like to see Holding and Gabriel given more of a chance
The broader picture is simply with his job on the line Arteta appears to want a player with PL experience (White). Given the fee and the fact he’s coming straight from the PL White is going to need to be one of our best players this year. Would add that thanks to no Europe there really won’t be any rotation needed as we will play one game a week which means no opportunities for non-starters. Would expect to see more players leave on loan.
He should walk into this team and be our best central defender for that money and make a significant difference to our defensive record and ball progression. He costs double the amount Gabriel did. If people disagree then please name who our best central defender should be.
He needs to be one of the best PL defenders for what we are spending.
He needs to be one of the best in world football at that price. 7th most expensive defender in history (and may be higher when it’s all said and done). No pressure or anything Ben…
The hallmark of a badly run club – allowing a manager to make signings to save his ass.
Bah. Mikel is entitled to pick who he wants. Of course as fans we are entitled to see Mikel deliver what we want. As much I’m dismayed by what’s happening with Saliba, this isn’t just Mikel’s fault/problem.
Is ‘The Broader Picture’ that one with Willian in it?
So a talented young player, who might still feel slighted and on the brink of disenfranchisement because of Arsenal’s actions, is going to go on loan to the team where a talented, young former player- who feels very much slighted and disenfranchised- will also be playing? DO we really want Guendouzi whispering in Saliba’s ear?
If Saliba makes up his mind about Arsenal based on Guendouzi’s whisperings, that would say a lot about his person.
To be fair, Guendouzi played a part in him signing for Arsenal in the first place. Their familiarity isn’t surprising. He was also the player giving Saliba a tour of London Colney after he signed too. Though that’s all old news now
We could just as easily say… If Arteta makes up his mind about players based on pre-season and training sessions, that would say a lot about his person.
You’re right, what’s a manager doing using training and pre-season to make a judgement on whether or not a player’s ready? He should use far more accurate measurements like his star sign shouldn’t he!
Or he could use their performances in high-pressure situations as an indicator of progress instead of glorified 5-a-sides and exhibition matches.
It’s like only judging actors based on bloopers/rehearsals and not considering their screen-time. At the end of the day mock exams don’t matter, the final paper does.
Well this must be the longest fucking period of pre-season in the history of the known universe.
Wish him well, would have loved to see him given opportunity now but hey I guess Arteta knows what he is doing. Clearly Willians got himself really fit for new season, not put on any weight and understands Arteta non negotiables 🤓
Arteta doesn’t know what he’s doing. Bloody emery taught him a lesson and that should’ve been the end of him at arsenal.
He couldn’t have been anymore sarcastic if he tried.
*non-vegetables
😂😂
I love that bullshit last paragraph. The truth is that they couldn’t sell him and so settled for yet another loan. My guess is that for whatever reason he doesn’t want to play abroad and feels comfortable only in France. Another farcical transfer from the genius that is Edu. You couldn’t make it up.
If don’t get the Ben White deal over the line then we could have a problem.
It’s not often I agree with you but here you’re bang on. This whole Saliba business is bullshit. The Kroenke’s did the right thing when sacking Don Raul but with Edu still around they only did half a job.
Edu joined about 2 weeks before Saliba, very doubtful he had anything do to with the signing
He’s referring to Saliba joining Marseille in July 2021. Unless Edu gets paid to just smoke cigars in a chair at Highbury House, I’m fairly certain he was involved in this transfer.
Is he?
I thought he was inferring that Edu had made a poor purchase. I pointed out that it was highly unlikely that he had anything to do with identifying Saliba given the length of time he’d been here.
But even so, criticising Edu for not being able to get blood out of the depressed transfer market stone is ridiculous. Is he responsible for the collapse of the Ligue 1 TV deal and Covid as well?
Funny how it’s not a depressed transfer market to the likes of Chelsea and City.
There is no suggestion he doesn’t want to play abroad. If you recall he was not overly impressed with not being given an opportunity with us.
Ok, so we’re sending Saliba to the same place we sent Gendouzi? When my 9 year old misbehaves, he gets sent to his room. Is there a spot at Marseille for him, too?
My three year old is generally a good kid, but as soon as he hangs out with his naughty friend Boris [name changed for identity protection] he turns into a little shit and does whatever Boris does even though he knows it’s wrong.
Let Matt be an example of what happens when you hang around Boris too much.
Funny! But let’s be honest. Matt was a dickhead before he met Boris.
Loaning players is great for all as a practice. The problem I see with this is if the management were seriously grooming the player for eventual step-up to the first team, he would be loaned out to either a PL side or, if that limited his ability to actually play week in and week out, why not another English tier. This would makes sense because of language and adaptation to the English game. I am inclined to believe, as was mentioned above, they want to recuperate the 30m and eventually sell him on.
So do we at least get any money for this loan? A couple of million plus his wages covered? Something? Anything?
So, we’ve got White then??
Arteta would never sanction a move to a premier league club because if this kid performs in the EPL it would be a PR disaster and an indictment on his management skills. I suspect the board agreed because a good season at Marseille will increase his value, or, Arteta doesn’t see out the entire season and they recall the kid. One thing is for certain though, Saliba and Arteta are like water and oil.
What about Joe Willock?
Rumours are gathering that Willock is very close to another (year long this time) loan to Newcastle. I feel like we just have no fucking idea what to do with our own players let alone getting the right ones in to help. That would be an absolute blinder of a deal for Newcastle. Another year of a guy who knows the team with proven success at almost no cost. Arsenal lose another midfielder (another replacement needed), get basically no fee, and we improve a mid table rival. Add to that he’ll have a year left on his contract at the… Read more »
Arteta’s tactics stifle Joe’s natural game. So he may also go on loan, but if he does stay, he will be very frustrated as Arteta won’t accommodate him.
Let Newcastle look after him and allow him some game time – and maybe an England call up.
Hopefully LEGOhead will have been sacked by the time Willock returns, ready to hit the ground running with a manager who advocates attacking football.
Let’s put aside the fact that Arteta hasn’t really given Saliba a chance to make the team.
But why is Saliba choosing to go on another loan in France (vs. Newcastle or another PL club)? What has he got left to prove in Ligue 1?
The argument is that the Marseille manager is a Bielsa Stan whose teams plays similar football to Arteta’s.
If that’s the case, we might be better off getting the Marseille manager rather then sending our players there.
Must be a clause somewhere that if he plays 1 minute of football for Arsenal then St Étienne Get an extra £20 million. That’s the only thing I can think of about this business
Saliab will be back next season when Areta and Edu contracts expired
Shabbily treated.
Saliba is both 20 and 21. No wonder everyone is beside themselves over the time-travelling young man!!
Schrodinger’s footballer
What can we say that is not already said?
We gave minutes to David Luiz Mustafi Kolasinac instead of him. Because it is risky to play a kid but all the above made more in mistakes in one season than Saliba probably will make in his entire career.
The “too many kids” argument is valid for teams that are going for CL not on rebuild.
Precisely. No need or expectation for hom to be a regular and Europa League, FA Cup, League Cup and the odd League start or coming off the bench he could easily have made 20-30 appearances.
F*ck arteta, f*uck edu, f*uck arsenal. Wake me up when these amateurs are out of the club.
Wow.
So you want Arsenal out of Arsenal? That’s some cosmic shit. My mind is blown.
Smartass
Beating off stiff competition eh? Oo-er missus!
If anyone feels confused by what’s happening with Saliba, here’s my take on the matter: Saliba hasn’t got a sniff of football with us, and that’s because he’s crossing the line of Arteta’s non-negotiables. The controversy surrounding that leaked video in February suggests Saliba lacks discipline. And assuming that, he might not have put the effort to provoke a change of Arteta’s mind. My understanding of what values Arteta is trying to instill in the squad is as follows: 1) discipline, behaviour and work ethic in training, first and foremost, a sine-qua-non condition; 2) working well within the team; 3)… Read more »
While that changing room video is gross, it is as much a signifier of personal discipline as Runarsson insulting Wenger and Ceballos hoping bombs drop on Catalonian/Basque fans. Which is to say, not very much. Like with the other the other two, these shenanigans happened at the age of 16, way before any of them turned pro. We’ve already seen that the non-negotiables stuff is nonsense and just a media talking point. If it had any standing then Willian the jetsetter and David Luiz the penalty magnet wouldn’t have gotten so much game time under Arteta. Of course it’s nice… Read more »
It might be personal preference, but I think Ceballos endorsing a fascist dictator and suggesting mass murder of a linguistic minority is far worse that the other two.
Fuck that guy.
Without a doubt.
We will see what this season brings, feel like it’s now or never for his career at the Gooners.
Good luck fella!
This will make a great US made for tv drama one day.
Starring Chip Klein as Willian Saliba.
Directed by Biff Doz.
Produced by Larry Swartzberger.
Music and Merchandising by Gene Simmons.
Executive Producer Stan Kroenke.
Some serious fuck up from Sanllehi this is
If I’m the Director of Football at Brighton, I’m bumping up the Ben White price by £10 million.
Arsenal would look really stupid if they didn’t get him now, wouldn’t they?
You’d think we’d only be sending Saliba on loan AFTER we’ve signed his replacement.
It seems to me if you do it the other way around, you lose all leverage.
I dont’t get why people get so worked up over this. Why is it such a big deal that the club spends 30 million on a player that we don’t use and then spend 50 million on a player in the same position?