Outcast Saliba set to return to Arsenal
Carlo Garganese
- Updated: 16 Jan 2022 15:04 GMT
- 3 min read
William Saliba could be set to return to Arsenal this summer as an aftereffect of Marseille’s transfer ban.
Ligue 1 giants Marseille are set to be banned for two transfer windows as punishment for Pape Gueye’s move to the club from Watford in 2020.
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Gueye joined Marseille on from Watford for €2.5m just 24 hours after signing for the Premier League on a free transfer. Watford are asking for €10m in compensation, while the player is expected to be banned for four months also.
Marseille’s ban is set to come into effect this summer, although the Ligue 1 side are set to appeal the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which could delay when the ban is due to start.
According to respected French football journalist Matt Spiro, these developments will affect Arsenal.
If the ban kicks in this summer as planned, then Marseille would have to abandon plans to sign Saliba permanently.
Marseille appealing transfer ban imposed on them by FIFA following signing of Pape Gueye (who'd already signed for Watford). If ban kicks in this summer, club would have to abandon plans to sign Saliba. Fellow loanees Guendouzi, Under & Lopez could sign as deals already agreed
— Matt Spiro (@mattspiro) January 16, 2022
Saliba is currently in the middle of a season-long loan at Marseille from parent club Arsenal.
The French defender initially made the move to Arsenal in 2019, when the Premier League side signed him from Saint-Etienne for £27 million.
However, despite joining the club over two years ago, Saliba hasn’t made a single first-team appearance for Mikel Arteta’s side and has instead been loaned out to three clubs in that time. He has also hit out at Arsenal’s treatment of him numerous times.
This season, Saliba ended up at Marseille, where he has gone from strength to strength in Jorge Sampaoli’s side.
So much so that Saliba was expected to make the move permanent at the end of the season.
However, that is now set to change unless the transfer ban can be delayed, which Spiro says is possible.
The other players currently on loan at Marseille – such as another Arsenal-owned star in Matteo Guendouzi – won’t be affected according to Spiro.
