Matteo Guendouzi has claimed that Arsenal defender William Saliba wants to return to Marseille next season.
Saliba joined the north Londoners back in the summer of 2019, signing for a reported £30million after establishing himself as one of Ligue 1's brightest young defenders. However, he is yet to make a single first-team appearance for Mikel Arteta's side, enjoying productive loan spells with Saint Etienne, Nice and most recently, Marseille.
The 21-year-old's performances throughout the 2021/22 campaign were extremely impressive, as registered a whopping 19 clean sheets across all competitions as he was awarded Ligue 1's young player of the year award due to his consistent, mature performances. The France international has since been linked with a return to the Stade Velodrome and former Arsenal midfielder Guendozui has now urged his compatriot to join him at Les Olympiens again next term.
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Speaking to Telefoot about his international teammate's situation, Guendouzi said: “William has Marseille now in his heart, and I’m sure he will return to Marseille next season. So I will try to push him again to stay with us.”
The young midfielder's comments come just one week after Saliba claimed he would be returning to the Emirates Stadium in the coming weeks, saying he will join Arteta and Co during pre-season. "I belong to Arsenal, I still have two years left there", he told Telefoot.
"I will be there for pre-season." If Saliba is to get into Arsenal's starting XI next season he will need to displace either Ben White or Gabriel Magalhaes, who were Arteta's preferred centre-back partnership throughout the 2021/22 campaign.
