After making it very clear they wanted to keep William Saliba for another season regardless of whether a transfer was sorted this summer or the next, Saint-Etienne appear to have got their wish.
According to RMC Sport’s Mohamed Bouhafsi, Arsenal and the Ligue 1 side have reached an agreement of around €30m for the young centre-back.
The 18-year-old is said to have already said yes to the personal terms put in front of him by the Gunners, who will, in turn, allow the defender to remain in France next season so he can continue his development by playing first-team football.
All that needs to be sorted now are the bonuses that come with the transfer, which the journalist states could either take hours or days.
William #Saliba à #Arsenal ça brûle ! Arsenal et #ASSE ont trouvé un accord autour de 30M€ ! Les 2 clubs discutent encore des bonus du transfert. Ça peut prendre encore quelques heures, jours. Le joueur est déjà d’accord avec Arsenal. Il restera à l’ASSE une saison. #RMCsport
— Mohamed Bouhafsi (@mohamedbouhafsi) July 8, 2019
Either way, it appears that Arsenal are the ones to come out victorious in this transfer battle, and if all goes to plan, have secured one of the better up and coming defensive talents in Europe.
Their fans will just have to wait until the 2019-20 season to see him in action in a red and white shirt.
