Arsenal have an agreement with Saint-Etienne for William Saliba to play in the Coupe de France final next month, according to Mikel Arteta.

Most of Arsenal’s loanees have already sorted their future for the next couple of months. Jordi Osei-Tutu finished his season over the weekend, Ben Sheaf had his campaign curtailed early, Emile Smith Rowe got an extension, and so on.

William Saliba’s situation is a bit more complicated. Initially, it looked like the French season was off completely, meaning he’d return to North London. Then, the French authorities reorganised the Coupe de France final between PSG vs Saint-Etienne for July.

This means Saliba would need to extend his deal with Saint-Etienne (expiring today, June 30th) to play the final. Mikel Arteta says that’s the right thing to do.

“I think he needs to stay there,” Arteta told the media. “We’ve got an agreement with Saint-Etienne and he’s been over there all year.

“He has earned his right to play that final if their manager wants to do that. So I think we have to give him the opportunity to do that, to enjoy that and we can have him after that.”

A report earlier in the day from the Evening Standard suggested Arsenal were still in talks with Saint-Etienne over the loan extension. Presumably, Arsenal are pushing for the removal of a reported clause requiring them to pay €2.5m if Saliba starts another game this season.

You’d think Saint-Etienne would rather bring back Saliba for a game and miss out on the cash. It’s that or they miss out on the money and the player too.