Arsenal’s request to recall William Saliba and bring him to London in January has been ‘categorically refused’ by St Etienne.

Saint-Etienne's French defender William Saliba (R) vies with Monaco's French forward Wissam Ben Yedder during the French L1 football match between AS Saint-Etienne and AS Monaco at the Geoffroy Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne, central France on November 3, 2019. (Photo by PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP)
Saint-Etienne’s French defender William Saliba (R) vies with Monaco’s French forward Wissam Ben Yedder during the French L1 football match between AS Saint-Etienne and AS Monaco at the Geoffroy Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne, central France on November 3, 2019. (Photo by PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP)

In desperate need of fit and competent central defenders, Arsenal reportedly asked St Etienne if they can have their player back and the Ligue 1 side have, unsurprisingly, said no.

Despite undergoing surgery earlier in the season and returning to Arsenal for part of his rehab, the 18-year-old is still up for the award of best centreback in Ligue 1.

That sounds like a handy type of player to have in your squad when your other options are David Luiz, Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi.

Last week, Gilles Favard tweeted that Arsenal wanted to recall Saliba for the second half of the season. Whether that is actually possible or not is still unclear but logic seems to dictate that it is not.

If there was a ‘no recall’ option in his loan agreement, then Arsenal wouldn’t have asked.

William Saliba back in training via ASSE
William Saliba back in training via ASSE

If there was, then all they had to do was trigger it.

That Arsenal reportedly asked if they could have him early suggests any recall clause that is included is most likely based around Saliba’s playing time, leaving Arsenal dependent on St Etienne doing them a favour.

They sit in 14th place, eight points above the drop zone with a goal difference of minus seven despite having one of the best defenders in the country, so you can understand why they might say no.

That is, of course, if any of this happened in the first place, although it would seem prudent for Arsenal to at least ask the question given the state of their defence this season.

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