William Saliba spent the whole of last season on loan at Marseille and reports from Fabrizio Romano suggests that the young defender was subject to interest from Barcelona and AC Milan.
The young defender returned to Arsenal after his loan spell at Marseille and has been one of the Gunners’ standout performers so far this season.
Fabrizio Romano estimates William Saliba’s value to be around twice the €30million Arsenal paid for him few years ago.
He further explained that Marseille were keen on keeping the defender on a permanent basis this summer. In addition to this, Barcelona and AC Milan considered signing him this summer, however, Arsenal refused to let go of 21-year-old.
“In the summer, Marseille wanted to try something special for Saliba. He was very happy on loan at Marseille, and there was a meeting with his agent, but for Arsenal there was no chance of a discussion – he was considered untouchable. Saliba was happy with this stance, as he could see he was a key part of the Arsenal project,” Romano explained.
“There were other clubs interested – I can mention AC Milan, who looked at Saliba as an alternative to Sven Botman. There were never negotiations, they knew he was untouchable to Arsenal.
“Barcelona also considered Saliba – he was an alternative in case they could not complete the Jules Kounde deal. Kounde was the priority for Barca, but Saliba was also on their list and they were prepared to make a proposal in case they never managed to sign Kounde. Still, they got their man and so they never made a formal approach for Saliba.
In any case, I still don’t think there was a chance that Arsenal would let him go.”
