Arsenal defender William Saliba is said to be open to taking a huge salary cut in order to complete a move away from the club. The French centre-back, who is yet to make a senior appearance for the club since a £27 million move from Saint-Etienne, is willing to go down to around £90,000-a-month according to Canal Plus, via Mail Online.
William Saliba Open to Huge Salary Decrease
Could He Move in This Window?
There is an expectancy that Saliba will leave Arsenal on loan in the current January window. He is yet to appear in the Premier League or Europa League, being left out of the 25-man squad for the latter at the start of the season.
He appeared for the Gunners in a Papa John’s Trophy game against League One side AFC Wimbledon but was sent off in the 89th minute of the 3-0 defeat.
Saliba is believed to be on a salary of around £160,000-a-month in North London, but Canal Plus suggest he would be willing to drop down to £90,000 in order to facilitate a move.
There is no suggestion that Saliba will be used any time soon in Arsenal’s first-team set-up this season. However, the likelihood that David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopulous are all moved on at the end of the campaign means there may be an opening soon.
Saliba was signed when Unai Emery was still in charge at the club, but was loaned straight back to Saint-Etienne. By the time he returned to Arsenal, Emery was gone and had been replaced by Mikel Arteta.
The Spaniard has claimed that Saliba is not ready for the top flight, and while this could be protection after an injury-hit 2019/20 campaign, the longer this exile goes on the more questions there will be surrounding Saliba’s place at the club.
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