In terms of incomings, it has been a quiet January for Arsenal so far.
The Gunners have been linked to Dusan Vlahovic as they seek to solve their centre forward problems, amid uncertainty over the futures of Eddie Nketiah, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Meanwhile, Edu has also sought to bolster the midfield options by moving to bring in Arthur Melo from Juventus while Bruno Guimaraes and Youri Tielemans have both been linked.
At the time of writing, though, the Brazilian has been unsuccessful on both counts with most of the transfer action at the Emirates Stadium coming in the outgoing department as Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Folarin Balogun secured loan moves to Roma and Middlesbrough, respectively. And now it seems as though a third deal is set to follow.
Reports suggest that Pablo Mari is close to securing a loan move to Udinese.
The Spaniard had played quite an important role for Arsenal last season, starting the Europa League semi-final first leg, but has not been seen in a Gunners shirt since September after falling well and truly behind first-choice defensive pairing Gabriel and Ben White this campaign
football.london reported in November that he would look to move if that situation didn't change, but after not being selected during the FA Cup third round defeat to Nottingham Forest, and having missed the Carabao Cup wins over Leeds and Sunderland due to illness and COVID it seems he is on his way to Serie A.
Part of the reason Mari had been so popular last season was Mikel Arteta's preference for a left-footer in his centre back pairing. However, the Spaniard has ditched that in recent weeks and opted to use Rob Holding at left centre-back despite the fact that he is right-footed.
With this in mind, it seems that Arsenal will probably be able to get by at centre-back until the end of the season with Calum Chambers and Takehiro Tomiyasu both capable of filling in there if needs be.
Come the summer, though, it could be a very different story.
Mari's exit and the expected summer departure of Chambers, mean that there will be another spot in the squad for a central defender, particularly given the increased amount games Arsenal will have to play if they qualify for Europe.
With this in mind, it seems that the stage is set for William Saliba to finally feature for the Gunners.
The Frenchman was signed back in 2019, but due to a mixture of loan spells, administrative errors and personal circumstances, he is still yet to have featured for the Arsenal first team.
Despite that, though, football.london understands that he has informed those close to him that he is keen on making a return to north London when his loan spell at Marseille ends.
Arteta himself has already hinted that this could be a possibility once numbers in the centre-back positions decrease.
“Everything is linked, obviously the amount of centre-backs we could have in the team," the Spaniard when asked about Saliba being loaned out again this season following his excellent display in Marseille's 0-0 draw with PSG earlier in the season.
"The issues we had in the past because of the numbers that we had and the imbalance that we had in the position.
“And because of William’s decision in his career right now, to get the minutes that he’s getting and make the progress that he’s making, we believe it was the right thing to do.
“As a club, we’re always in touch, they went to see that game as well, Edu and Ben [Knapper, loan manager] was there to watch him and keep a close eye on him and the progress he’s making. Obviously, he’s our player and we do that with all the loan players we have.”
Saliba's return to north London could help Arsenal two-fold.
The Frenchman would obviously bolster their quality at centre back, but he has also shown that his capable of covering at right-back if needs be.
This is something that could be particularly useful to Arteta, who used White to cover in the position for the Boxing Day victory over Norwich when Tomiyasu, Cedric, Chambers and Maitland-Niles were all out due to COVID.
With Hector Bellerin unlikely to return from his loan at Real Betis on a permanent basis, Cedric being linked with a move to Atletico Madrid and the latter pair both likely to leave in the summer, Saliba's return could reduce the Gunners' need to dip into the transfer market to find back up for Tomiyasu.
It's also worth noting that the Frenchman is more of a tactical fit, with his physical profile, possession skills and defensive instincts being more in keeping with what Arteta is looking for to fill the inverted full-back role on the right side of his defence.
The one spanner in the works to a move did appear to be Marseille's interest in taking the 20-year-old on a permanent basis when his loan expires in the summer.
However, reports have suggested that L'OM are set to be hit with a two-window transfer ban that would make such a move impossible.
Still, though, as one of the best young centre-backs in Europe with just two years on his contract, Saliba is likely to have plenty of suitors come the end of the season. But after three years of waiting, it seems the boy who was pictured wearing an Arsenal shirt as a youngster could finally be about to live out his childhood dream of playing for the Gunners.
