Arsenal might say they will give William Saliba a chance in pre-season but there are at least seven clubs that want to take him and actually use him.

Despite Arsenal saying they will give William Saliba a chance in pre-season, they have authorised his participation at the Olympics, something they didn’t have to do.

How, then, will Saliba get a proper chance in pre-season with Arsenal if he is in Japan with France from at least two weeks after Arsenal return to pre-season to around 10 days before the Premier League starts, should France make the Gold Medal match on 7 August?

The Premier League starts on 13 August.

Given all that, it seems like Arsenal haven’t actually got any intention of giving him a proper chance and the seven plus clubs circling for him could well get the chance to sign him.

Southampton, Newcastle, Marseille, Lille, Rennes, Nice, Bayer Leverkusen and unnamed sides from Italy are all said to be interested.

With Arsenal’s interest in Ben White, it seems clear Arsenal don’t want Saliba. Nor do they want Konstantinos Mavropanos whom Sven Mislintat is delighted to have back at Stuttgart, saying the defender is “well on the way to becoming an absolute top central defender and we are very happy to have him at VfB.”

The two players seem more than capable, could it really be their only ‘flaw’ is that they weren’t signed by Mikel Arteta?