William Saliba opened the door to extending his stint with Marseille as he appeared to aim a thinly-veiled dig at Arsenal.
The centre-back, 21, is coming to the end of an impressive season-long loan with the Ligue 1 giants having made a whopping 45 appearances in all competitions. His eye-catching form for Marseille earned him a maiden call-up to the senior France squad in March and he made two appearances for Les Bleus.
Saliba's quality does not come as a surprise given he arrived at the Emirates in a £27million transfer in 2019, when he was a teenager. However, he is yet to make his debut for the Gunners and he was keen to stress he owes his first France caps to the opportunities handed to him at Marseille - rather than his parent club.
"There is always a chance," Saliba told French outlet Le Parisien on the subject of staying at the Stade Velodrome. "I do not hide that I am very happy in Marseille. I have developed, I have passed a milestone. If I make it into France's squad it's thanks to Marseille, because there is a lot of visibility.
"They are a very big club with a lot of pressure, but when you're good there are a lot of good things that happen to you. We will see in May or June depending on the discussions. Today, my future, I don't know what it is." Saliba has helped Marseille to second in the Ligue 1 table as well as the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League, where they will face Dutch side Feyenoord. He was named in the starting XI for Sunday night's top-flight encounter with Paris Saint-Germain, who are processing to another league title.
Will we see William Saliba in an Arsenal shirt next season? Have your say in the comments!
It remains to be seen whether Saliba will be given the chance to stay on at Marseille next season as he is set for talks with Arsenal chiefs this summer. He has just over two years remaining on his contract in North London and Mikel Arteta spoke optimistically about his chances of breaking into the first team earlier this campaign. "I know that sometimes it's difficult to explain or understand after the money that the club has spent trying to bring him in, to send him on loan," the Arsenal boss said of Saliba.
"But a lot of things have happened to him he’s a long-term player for us and we need to protect him as well. And giving him three or four games is not enough. He's very happy to go there now. Hopefully, he can enjoy his football and be ready for us for next season."
