Arsenal and Saint-Étienne fail to reach William Saliba agreement

OneFootball

Lewis Ambrose·16 July 2020

Arsenal and Saint-Étienne fail to reach William Saliba agreement

Saint-Étienne boss Claude Puel has confirmed William Saliba will miss the Coupe de France final next week.

On loan from Arsenal, the defender spent the season with boyhood club Saint-Étienne but that deal came to an end two weeks ago.

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Arsenal and Saint-Étienne had held talks over extending the loan so Saliba, who was said to be desperate to play, could feature one more time for his ex-club in the final against PSG next Wednesday.

William Saliba set to miss the French Cup final. Arsenal were prepared to negotiate further but hard to put together a deal that will suit both clubs.
– Thursday, 16 July 2020

However, no agreement has been reached.

Had Saliba featured, Arsenal reportedly would’ve been due to pay the French club an additional €2.5m.

With Saint-Étienne reluctant to waive that fee and asking to have full control over his training sessions, Arsenal were unwilling to extend his stay.

Saliba will now either join up with the Gunners or begin his summer break before he is eligible to line up in north London next season.