Come up with a deal where he plays for them every other week
William Saliba from St Etienne
Ricky1985 wrote:“I have seen the comments from Arsenal & St Étienne fans and I don’t think they really know William Saliba. He is an U20 international defender and he is the only player in the French set-up who is in the age class two times higher than a player would typically be. He’s the first player to be in this situation since Kylian Mbappé. He is a player with incredible qualities. Everyone at St Étienne tells me he is a fantastic player, I don’t know him personally, but they say he has incredible qualities and is a very, very, very good player. Arsenal, Tottenham, Napoli and Juventus have been watching him so much because he is a player with enormous qualities, but he also needs playing time and the ability to grow more. And to succeed in having maturity and consistency.”
“Today, if you look at the transfers of De Ligt and other great defenders, €25m, €30m for Saliba is nothing, nothing at all. So, that is why Arsenal have very well understood that they should leave him at St Étienne for another year, or at least close the deal now, because if a player like Saliba is as good again in Ligue 1 this coming season, he will easily be worth €55m, €60m next summer. That’s why all the English clubs, and notably the two that are currently in the running, Arsenal & Tottenham, especially Arsenal who have an agreement with the player, know that this would be a great deal. Arsenal’s offer is €30m, but with bonuses, so €25m + €5m in bonuses, it is interesting (for St Étienne). There are other meetings that will follow, because Arsenal know that if they close a deal for the player, even if they loan him back for a year, they are signing a top, top central defender.”
Is there anyway in which St Étienne let the player leave this summer without him being loaned back?
I want to say that the Arsenal fans need to understand the position that St Étienne are in. The position of St Étienne is to have a top defender for another year and the position of the player, who wants to have another year of progression in Ligue 1. He wants to be even better in Ligue 1 and play even more games, and it is possible that he would not be starting that much in England next season. Talks aren’t finished, discussions are ongoing between the two clubs, I could be wrong, maybe if Arsenal offer another €10m, then St Étienne might drop the loan back condition, things could evolve.
What I want to say though, is that it is not necessarily a bad calculation to sign a player who is going to be fantastic for many years and loan him back for one season. And who is going to grow during that time in terms of his qualities, rather than immediately putting him in a fierce competition for places, immediately putting him under pressure. Sometimes it is better to lose 1 year to gain 5 or 6 years, rather than to gain 1 year and lose everything.
Bouhafsi knows his stuff, so it's likely to be true when he says Saliba is on board with another year in Ligue Une. The rest of what he says just confirms how important it is to get him signed, loan or no loan.
To be honest another year would probably do him a world of good too; much more than going here right away.
We need to be smart and sign someone like Izzo meanwhile, and then we'd have a defence that can do the business.
I think that's it really. Given his experience, it probably is best for his development to stay there.
It's just whether we can find someone to replace Mustafi this year and whether Kos' legs can hold out for another season. I think it makes it more likely that Chambers stays, which I don't mind but it puts or defensive stability at greater risk.
Ricky1985 wrote:I suppose we have to face reality: Spurs are a bigger draw than Arsenal right now. And so there's not a damn thing we can do stop them signing him.
What we can do is sign the best youngsters on the market, sell the long-term underperfomers, and try to reverse the position in the next season. Realstically, it's going to take more like 2 or 3 seasons, and that's if all goes well.
Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert wrote:Are Spurs actually a bigger draw than we are though? I know we all go berserk here but in reality, have things actually changed much?
We can still offer more money, we still have the recent history, etc.
I have to agree with Ricky that, at this moment in time, they are the bigger draw as their CL exploits are still fresh in the minds of most players. compared to us in Europa and a team in urgent need of repair. I don't even think we can afford to pay that much more as the owner is putting pressure on reducing the wage bill. Money and history only take you so far as we have all seen what that has happened at manu this past decade.
Even though we need a new CB this season, I respect him for wanting to stay there another year instead of coming to us. Not many youngsters are patient when the big clubs come knocking.
Klaus wrote:Ricky1985 wrote:Bouhafsi knows his stuff, so it's likely to be true when he says Saliba is on board with another year in Ligue Une. The rest of what he says just confirms how important it is to get him signed, loan or no loan.
To be honest another year would probably do him a world of good too; much more than going here right away.
We need to be smart and sign someone like Izzo meanwhile, and then we'd have a defence that can do the business.
Hopefully he stays a year, then he joins us when we have Ten Hag 
Are Spurs bigger than Arsenal? Depends who you ask
As a player, you need to look at the two clubs and consider your prospects to get paid and win titles. One team has been in three straight Champions Leagues and just made the Champions League final. They have overwhelmingly positive press and a highly regarded coach.
The other team is our cluster.
Any player who's paid attention to more than the last 3 years will know this isn't how we "should be", and that corrective action by our new regime should put us back where we belong, and once again ahead of Spurs. They've still won zero and are a joke.
No one you ask will in his right mind say that Tottenham Hotspur is a bigger club than Arsenal even given the backdrop of the last 3 seasons, as if football started in 2015. Ultimately they finished a point ahead of us last season in the CL places and can attract players who want to play at that level. We have to get back into the CL and then we will see which club players prefer. The real problem is our reluctance to spend money and finish in the red for a couple of seasons.
Stating that one club is a bigger draw is not saying it is the bigger club.
Ramsey, for example, chose us over manu as he thought about what was best for himself.
As The Claudius says, some 22 yr old player in France (for example) is more likely to consider his likelihood of winning now rather than considering history.
Huge talent. That’s ridiculous for an 18 year old.
Do whatever it takes to get him in
Bouhafsis take that he will likely double in value in 12 months makes me feel we need to get this done asap, loan or not
jones wrote:Bouhafsi is possibly the most reliable source in transfer news. Not like he's a semi official mouth piece for any club either he's just a journalist with reliable sources.
30m and a loan back would be shit business. We need someone to come in now, either 10m + loan back which gives us a chance to sign someone else or 30m and he fixes our defence come July 1st by himself ffs
Another way to look at it is if we do loan him back then his fee will most likely go out of next seasons budget than this season. He is also just 18, another season of regular football in France probably wouldn't be the worse thing for him either. However like you say that doesn't address our pressing need for a CB right now.
Agreed. Looks an elite talent.
Looks like its done. 25m euros + loan back to St Etienne.
Not done until it’s on dotcom
Romain Collet-Gaudin is the best and most reliable journalist in Europe. Ugly Ornstein and his big fucking mole could only dream of being as respected and revered as he is
If it happens and we loan him then I won't complain as long as we also get someone in this summer to improve us next season.
Yeah, I'm good with this arrangement too. We will benefit too from him staying at St Etienne for now. One thing Saliba needs to improve on judging by the compilations is his explosiveness. He needs to get a little quicker off the mark. That'll come by building up his strength further with another year of top flight football. Bar a nasty injury (touch wood, touch wood, touch wood) we'll have someone who can probably slot right into the first team next summer.
Now go and get Izzo for the reported €25 million fee.
Mustafi, Chambers and Kos should fetch us up to £40m if we need to sell to fund it.
That will leave us with Sokratis, Izzo, Holding and Beilik with Saliba coming in next season. I'd be happy enough with that.
Holding is still a semi-unknown and Bielik is a total unknown... although I too would be excited by that.
I wish I had an idea of whether Jones is serious or if he's never heard of this guy.
Never heard of him before but due to my normative shitposting powers he's now the sports version of Seymour Hersh.
Flog mustafi and buy a senior centre half as well, and we're golden
[Twitter]
Bouhafsi says Spurs have informed Saint Etienne that they are in talks with Saliba and that a formal bid will be made in the coming hours.
Let's hope the we've sold the kid on project MAGA. Would be a real kick in the balls to have them hijack the deal at the eleventh hour.
It would. Can imagine Levy ranting to bid cos it’s us
Don't know who needs to leave this planet first out of Kroenke and Levy.
Imagine the shame of being hijacked by Spurs. We need to fix things quick and put them back where they belong
[size=medium][font=system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont,]St Étienne not satisfied with Arsenal’s opening offer for William Saliba, which was worth €30m but included €7m in bonuses, according to [/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont,][size=medium]@BilelGhazi[/size][/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont,]. ASSE want €30m excluding bonuses[/font][/size]
23+7 and they get him on loan, and they're still baulking. This kid better be nesta mk 2
Perhaps the story about Tottenham making a bid is Saint-Etienne's attempt to extract the extra few million out us?
That was my feeling too.
[Twitter]
I just saw this. Could be a load of rubbish, but Saliba does follow him.
A surprise Saliba in the kit on Monday would really look the business.
Get in. We are doing the business we should’ve been doing all these years. This kid is going to blow up.
I really wish we had a steady hand next to him. Someone Mustafi’s age but without all the clownery
Salibas friend and he doesn't speak French?
Not on Arsenal.com, not an Arsenal player.
Feels like this one is slowly falling apart, in typical Arsenal style. Lots of rumours of multiple CL clubs coming in for the player. Don't know what the issue is - maybe Emery is blocking it because it reduces his budget, but doesn't help him for the year? Whatever it is, hope we get past it and close this soon.
Le10Sport: Arsenal and Saint Étienne are close to reaching agreement for the transfer of William Saliba. Negotiations into the final phase with Arsenal willing to let him join Étienne on loan next season. Fee close to €30m
Nobody has a clue. One day it's in the bag, the other it's not happening...
EDIT:
Co S.Etienne President Bernard Caïazzo “We know there are talks and probably his (Saliba) departure is to a European top club but there is no urgency. He will stay this season, it is an imperative condition if we come to an agreement for his transfer. It’s also William Wish”
Are maybe trying to get it done this summer? And they won't move on that? That's why it's taking so long to close this deal?
Well it’ll still be worth signing him and loaning him for one season but we’d still need a defensive addition for this season