Arsenal are expected to give William Saliba a chance in their first team following his successful loan to OGC Nice, according to reports in France.

William Saliba and Khephren Thuram of OGC Nice - Lyon vs OGC Nice - Ligue 1 Uber Eats - Lyon - 23/05/2021 Photo: NorbertScanella / PanoramiC
William Saliba and Khephren Thuram of OGC Nice – Lyon vs OGC Nice – Ligue 1 Uber Eats – Lyon – 23/05/2021 Photo: NorbertScanella / PanoramiC

L’Equipe (via GFFN) report that William Saliba will not remain with OGC Nice past the end of his loan spell, which comes to its conclusion this summer.

Instead, Saliba will return to Arsenal and get a chance in the first team. It’s now just a matter of waiting for pre-season to start, and you can check out this casinó in the meantime.

The French outlet claim Saliba’s chances at Arsenal have only been solidified by the departure of David Luiz and the absence of European football next season. Meanwhile, Nice will look to sign Jean-Clair Todibo permanently instead.

This echoes claims we’ve heard in the English media recently. Mark Mann-Bryans recently wrote that as things stand, William Saliba will be part of the Arsenal contingent in pre-season and the start of the new upcoming campaign.

CBS Sports also reported that sources indicate Arteta plans to give Saliba a chance to win his place in the first-team setup in pre-season this summer.

Journalists asked Mikel Arteta about the prospect of Saliba taking over from Luiz in a press conference earlier this month, and the Arsenal manager explained the club’s standpoint as things stand.

“You will see in the summer, the possible replacement,” Arteta responded. “William is our player for sure and that’s the decision that we’re going to be taking soon.

“We will sit down and discuss the roles of every member of the squad and how they can fulfil that role and he’s our player so he’ll be back here for sure.

“After that, we will make a decision based on the agreement of the role that each player is going to have in the squad.”

With David Luiz leaving, Saliba offers a profile Arsenal arguably lack in defence. More than just ball-winning, Saliba excels in his progressive passing and carries, particularly switching the play and passing under pressure.

The loan to Nice went very well, with the French u20 international make 22 appearances and even scoring a winner in his final game. The key thing was that he stayed fit and played regularly throughout the final few months of the campaign.

Arteta’s previous concern had been that Saliba spent a very disrupted campaign away with Saint-Etienne in 2019/20, often injured before the season was called off due to the pandemic. Now he has the run of games he needed to push on.