Arsenal's transfer decisions over the past few season appear to be heading in the right direction. A squad overhaul has seen Mikel Arteta gear his team towards his dream project, something that has resulted in an upwards trajectory up until this stage of his tenure at the Emirates Stadium.
The latest in a string of successful decisions surrounds that of the career of William Saliba, who has recently broken into the Gunners' first-team. The 21-year-old signed for the north London outfit in 2019 from Saint-Etienne for roughly £27million, but was made to wait before he made his debut.
The France international spent three seasons on loan, despite calls for him to stay and make appearances for the club. His most recent loan spell at Marseille saw him earn a call-up to the French national team as well as win the Ligue 1 Player of the Year award - previously won by the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouameni.
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Discussing Saliba's development, Arteta said: "We made the right decision [to loan Saliba out]." The Spaniard is certainly reaping those benefits now, with the defender becoming a key player since the start of the season.
In a repeat of such an important decision, Arsenal have looked to loan out a few of their youngsters to try and continue their development. Academy prospect Folarin Balogun is one of those, having spent the latter half of last season with Middlesbrough and now spending this campaign with Ligue 1 side Reims.
The striker scored in his first appearance against Marseille and he has done so again, finding the back of the net from the penalty spot against Clermont Foot. This is a record now mirrored by another loan star in Nuno Tavares.
The left-back joined Marseille for the season, scoring on debut last week, before adding another against Brest with a back post finish. Should both players continue their form and their trajectory, it could be a huge double loan spell for the Gunners.
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