William Saliba Might Not Even Play For Arsenal As Real Madrid Looks On

Real Madrid are looking steal away William Saliba even before he has played a single game for Arsenal.

The 18-year-old was picked up by Unai Emery’s side last summer in a £37m transfer before he was sent back to Saint Etienne on a season-long loan.

He has been impressing in the Ligue 1 and this season has been no different. Real first turned their attention towards Saliba in August and now, they seem to be back on his tail.

Zinedine Zidane has taken notice of his compatriot’s talents and has asked the Galacticos authority to take action. They would be forced to pay Arsenal a healthy premium since the player’s value is rocketing it’s way up as he gets older.

Zidane is looking for long-term replacements in defence and thinks Saliba can be the next Raphael Varane. He is also targeting Benoit Badiashile and Boubacar Kamara both of whom are considered future stars like Saliba.

Claude Puel questioned Etienne’s decision to sell the young centre-half in the first place. He said, “It’s done, adopted and I’ve got nothing to say because it helped perform. Saint-Etienne have held their rank these past few years. Finishing fourth is a great result. Work was done in the short-term.

“Is this model viable? I don’t think it can make the club a success. Rather than buying a ready-made player, I’d rather we buy him to develop him and help him grow. It’s hard to accept that we sell our best player, a young kid, to help fill the coffers.

“When you have to sell your gems to round up the budget and then do short term deals to fill in the gaps, you’re being reactionary.”