Arsenal and Olympique Marseille have reached a total agreement for the loan transfer of William Saliba. The player joins the French club on a one-year deal until 2022, and Arsenal have not included a buy option in his contract.
As reported by transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, all the paperwork pertaining to the transfer have been signed. And the official announcement can be expected in the days to come for the transfer of the player. He becomes the second Gunner to be loaned out to Marseille, following the departure of Matteo Guendouzi to the club.
But while Guendouzi left the club permanently, Saliba will return to the Emirates since Arsenal were determined to not include a buy option in his contract.
Marseille continues their impressive summer signing spree, having already negotiated the signings of Konrad de la Fuente, Matteo Guendouzi, Cengiz Under, Pau Lopez, Leonardo Balerdi and Kevin Strootman returning from loan at Genoa to boost the players available for selection next season.
There’s NO buy option included in William Saliba deal between Arsena and OM, confirmed. Saliba has accepted to join OM until June 2022 on loan – then #AFC want him to come back. 🤝🇫🇷 #OM
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 13, 2021
Arsenal board always considered “impossible” to include any buy option clause for Saliba. https://t.co/SnmF9ym0W4
Arsenal, on the other hand, are rebuilding their team ahead of the new season as well. Guendouzi, Saliba, Kolasinac, Xhaka and David Luiz are all the confirmed departures from the Emirates this summer. They are in the race for Brighton centre-back Ben White, and lead the other clubs in the pursuit for the Englishman.
White is now a priority for Arsenal, and they will make sure to agree terms between them and the player to finalise the transfer as soon as they can.
