Arsenal are still in the market for a centre-back, as they close in on the signing and loan back of St. Etienne defender William Saliba.

The BBC‘s reliable Arsenal journalist David Ornstein finally had some good news for supporters on Tuesday. He confirmed reports from elsewhere that the club are closing in on the signing of William Saliba for £27m, before loaning him back for the season.

The loan back is a bit of a drawback, as Arsenal need defensive reinforcements immediately. On that front, Ornstein added that the club are still in the market for a centre-back acquisition this summer.

What’s more, the £27m Arsenal owe for Saliba will be paid in instalments, meaning there won’t be a major impact on the summer budget.

Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until later this week for the transfer to be announced, as the final touches on the deal are expected to take a few more days.

This is overwhelmingly positive business from Arsenal. The easy way out would have been to give up when Saint-Etienne and Saliba requested a loan back, or to pay all the money up front and leave nothing budgeted for current signings.

Instead, they’ve found a solution that should keep everyone happy. What’s one teenage year spent elsewhere in the grand scheme of Saliba’s career, if he turns out to be as good as his potential suggests?

Now the transfer team just need to find someone to plug the gap at the back for the coming campaign.