Italian giants AC Milan are keen on Arsenal defender William Saliba.
Saliba, 21, joined Arsenal in a £27m move in 2019 but has yet to play a single competitive game for the Gunners. The France international has spent this season on loan at Marseille where he has been a first team regular and been so impressive that he earned a call-up to the senior national squad.
Saliba has also had loan spells at Nice and back at former club St Etienne as he struggled to settle at Arsenal despite the club nicking him from under the noses of bitter rivals Tottenham among other top clubs when they got him three years ago.
Now AC Milan are looking and will see whether Arsenal are prepared to let him go out on loan or move permanently this summer. Mikel Arteta has indicated he will be given a chance back at The Emirates.
The Rossoneri already have Fikayo Tomori who has impressed since moving from Chelsea and have built an outstanding young squad built around promising talent. Tomori has been the No.1 man at the heart of Stefano Pioli's defence, with 21-year-old Pierre Kalulu, a converted right-back, his main partner in recent months impressing also.
They also have club captain Alessio Romagnoli, but the Italian is out of contract this summer and could move in his search for more regular action, while veteran Denmark international Simon Kjaer continues to recover from a serious knee injury. The Lille defender Sven Botman has also been tipped to move to San Siro this summer.
Saliba voiced frustrations at not being able to settle in London and not getting a chance under Gunners boss Arteta but now Arsenal must decide whether to bring back the former under-21 defender.
Arsenal already have Ben White and Gabriel well established as their first choice central defensive partnership. Rob Holding has filled in during White’s recent injury absence and they look well stocked. They have also been looking at options for cover at the left side centre half slot as one of their transfer targets this summer.
Saliba is right-footed but could play on the other side and therefore could be a ready made solution. But former Arsenal defender William Gallas recently warned that his old club would have to switch to a back three for Saliba to stand a chance of becoming a regular because of the form of White and Gabriel as a partnership.
