Arsenal Submit Opening €30m Offer for Saint-Etienne Defender William Saliba
By Ben Carter
Arsenal have submitted an opening €30m for teenage Saint-Étienne defender William Saliba.
The 18-year-old has been the subject of heavy interest throughout the window so far after breaking into the first-team at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard last season, going on to make 16 appearances in Ligue 1.
It recently emerged that north London rivals Tottenham had joined the race for Saliba's signature, something which journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi claims has prompted the club to make an opening €30m offer for the defender.
#Arsenal have submitted an opening €30m bid to St Étienne for William #Saliba. St Étienne completely adamant that William Saliba must be loaned back for the 2019/20 season - not budging on that. #RMCsport
— Mohamed Bouhafsi (@mohamedbouhafsi) June 25, 2019
Arsenal have been in talks with Saint-Étienne for a number of weeks and it was understood that talks had been progressing well, although both sides were at a disagreement over where Saliba would be playing his football next season.
Unai Emery was eager to sign the teenager and integrate him straight away into their first-team, but Saint-Étienne wanted Saliba to return to east-central France on loan for the 2019/20 campaign.
It's understood that a potential loan for Saliba next season remains a topic of discussion but so far Saint-Étienne are refusing to budge over their stance.
Whilst talks with the French club have been proving difficult at times, it's already been reported that Arsenal have reached an agreement over personal terms with Saliba ahead of the new season.
The Gunners will hope that both matching Saint-Étienne's €30m asking price and agreeing to a deal with the player should help speed things along, but there remains no indication that the Ghislain Printant's side will sanction the move without assurances over Saliba's immediate return on loan.
Saint-Étienne's stance has also prompted Arsenal to look for options elsewhere in the market, most recently being linked with a move for Dan-Axel Zagadou from Borussia Dortmund, but that rumour appears to be wishful thinking more than anything else.
They've also been linked with Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona) and Joachim Andersen (Sampdoria) throughout the summer transfer window.