William Saliba arrived at the Emirates in 2020, a year after Arsenal agreed a deal with Saint-Étienne for his transfer.
After spending the 2019/20 season on loan with the Ligue 1 side, the defender was not given an opportunity at the north London club by Mikel Arteta. In need of game time, the 20-year-old has been out on loan since January 2021.
The Gunners allowed the centre-back to join Marseille on a temporary deal last summer and his fine displays this season have not gone unnoticed.
Well, a couple of days ago, it was reported by Calciomercato.it journalist Martin Sartorio that a number of intermediaries, among which was Italian agent Oscar Damiani, had a meeting with AC Milan at the end of last month, where he explained the player was proposed to the Serie A side, but they didn’t show an interest in him.
Damiani and co. visiting the Italian club was also reported by Milan News, who further explained Stefano Pioli’s side didn’t open the door for Saliba’s transfer.
🎥🔴⚫️ #Milan – Incontro a Casa Milan tra alcuni intermediari, tra cui Oscar Damiani, e la dirigenza rossonera. Sul piatto è finito il nome di William #Saliba. Profilo che al momento non scalda i 🔴⚫️ @calciomercatoit pic.twitter.com/MgFdA0VIn3
— Martin Sartorio (@MartinSa1988) January 28, 2022
Despite two sources stating the Rossoneri are not keen on the Frenchman, they continued to be linked with the player, especially by Calciomercato.it.
On Wednesday, the website stated Inter Milan ‘like’ the defender, and will have to battle with Milan and Real Madrid.
It’s claimed Arsenal could part ways with Saliba in the summer for €30m and his agent, Niang Djibril, is trying to forge a relationship with as many clubs as possible, with Inter among them.
Regarding Milan, Calciomercato.it say Paolo Maldini has his name circled in red, which is strange since this comes just a few days after a journalist from the same website reported they didn’t really show any interest in signing him.
The report further explains that it ‘is well known Real Madrid are also closely following the defender’. The latest report from Calciomercato.it has now been picked up by various outlets in England and France.
It’s to be noted Calciomercato.it don’t present it as their own information, while their latest line on Milan contradicts their earlier claim.
While the information on Inter seems new, those about Real Madrid seems to stem from elsewhere.
A little bit of digging helped us find a report from Sport on January 28th, which stated Los Blancos have Saliba on their agenda and has made it on the ‘list of alternatives managed by the club’.
As you can see, this seems to be an amalgamation of claims put into one, perhaps sprinkled with a little bit of new information, but we would recommend taking all this with a pinch of salt, as Arsenal will likely want to reevaluate their defender once he returns from Marseille before taking a final decision on his future.
