Arsenal have recently made the decision on the short-term future of 19-year-old centre-back William Saliba, as Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne were looking to keep him on loan for one final game in the Coupe de France final against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Gunners released a statement in which they detail the reasons as to why Saliba will not be going back to the French side on loan.
Within the statement, they said: “As William is returning from injury, we asked that St Etienne follow a clear training plan with William in close collaboration with us, to ensure he is fully fit for the start of next season.
“To our surprise we were unable to reach agreement to this plan which was proposed by our medical experts, and we are simply not prepared to risk the welfare of an Arsenal player.
“We know this is a disappointment for William but he understands we are working to protect his long-term interests and those of Arsenal.”
The 19 year-old knows the club well, as that is where Arsenal signed him from in the first place, and the fact they loaned him back shows that there is a good connection between the clubs.
Saliba has had a good season, helping Saint-Etienne to that cup final and averaging 1.5 tackles and 1.8 interceptions per game whilst also managing 2.5 clearances per game, per WhoScored.
However, if there are no plans to protect him from his most recent injury, then the Gunners are right not to loan him back as they will want him for next season and loaning him back could stop this from happening if he was to aggravate those injury concerns.
Gunners fans, what are your thoughts on this? Comment below!
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