According to a recent report by the Metro, Saint-Etienne’s French defender William Saliba is said to be attracting heavy interest from a couple of the Premier League’s biggest clubs this summer.
It has been suggested that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United and Unai Emery’s Arsenal are both extremely keen on the young talent, who recently broke into the first-team at the club after working his way through the academy.
Although it was his debut season, he has shown no signs of weakness
from the moment he first stepped onto the pitch. The Frenchman is only 18 but was an integral part of Jean-Louis Gasset’s Saint-Etienne side that managed to grab onto a 4th place finish in Ligue 1 this season.
He is a tall centre-half, who certainly makes his presence felt by using his physicality to good effect. Despite being young, he showcased some excellent leadership qualities this season and also managed to keep his composure throughout the course of the long and strenuous Ligue 1 campaign.
It has been suggested that the youngster is open to a step up to the Premier League next season, with only his eventual destination yet to be decided. It was earlier believed that Manchester United were in the driving seat because the player’s agent was spotted near the stadium.
Despite this, it now appears that the Gunners have entered the driving seat in terms of negotiations, with a deal expected to be struck in the coming weeks.
Here are the two PL clubs where he could end up next season:
Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men were defensively quite poor over the entirety of last season and if they are to have any hopes of breaking into the top four, let alone win the title, they will need to make multiple additions to toughen up at the back.
The inconsistency of players like Phil Jones and Chris Smalling needs to be dealt with and the acquisition of a young and assured head like Saliba would certainly be a step in the right direction.
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Arsenal
The Gunners’ defensive struggles have extended far longer than the stretch of recent memory. Despite the presence of experienced stars like Laurent Koscielny, the number of individual errors Arsenal committed last season cost them quite a lot in the grand scheme of things.
The addition of a youthful and dynamic defender who can add a little bit of freshness to the back-line could be exactly what Unai Emery’s side needs this summer.